Falling Into Place
by superzedu
Summary: When Hikari chooses for Amane, Yaya is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. She's doing okay up until now, but she needs someone to help her get truly mended. YayaxTsubomi.
1. Ch 1: A Wild Tsundere Appears!

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><strong>Chapter One<br>**=====

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><strong>An: Hey guys! This is a multi-chap YayaxTsubomi story, and it's actually a remastered version of my first fanfiction I ever made. The original had around 20 chapters, but I'm shortening it down and I rewrote the plot a bit because it was quite OC. So I hope I can bring the dying SP-fandom back to life again by spicing up the page a little :3 SP mustn't die!**

**Like I said, just a story about YayaxTsubomi, how their relationship evolves and how, eventually, things will always be alright. It's all a bit fluffy, but I hope you will all enjoy it :3  
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><strong>A Wild Tsundere Appears!<strong>  
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"Are you coming to choir practice today, Yaya-chan?" the soft voice of Hikari asked, while she settled herself down next to Yaya. They were at the library, which was quite empty. Usually, when it rained, the library would be full of people, but today was different for some reason.

The rain slowly drizzled down the windows, making the interior of the library seem even more dull, sober and dusty. Some girls shuffled around behind the bookshelves, talking in hushed whispers.

Yaya looked up from her book and looked straight into the light blue, somewhat sad eyes of Hikari. She stared a little before she answered: she could still drown in those eyes of her, even though they didn't belong to her. They would never be, and they hadn't been hers from the start.

"Well, I don't know yet. Lately I'm not really in the mood for singing." she said, as she closed her book with a soft thud. She turned around in her chair to fully face Hikari. God, how beautiful she was. Long, blonde, curly hair, those innocent blue eyes, always that soft blush on her cheeks. And oh, her angelic voice. Yaya mentally slapped herself. Hikari was Amane's, she should've known by now. But moving on was the hardest part of all, though Amane and Hikari were together for quite some time.

Yaya didn't want to think about it, and, banishing the thoughts, she looked down. She grimaced and then looked up again, meeting the pleading gaze of Hikari. The Spican sighed deeply and turned her head back around the other way, breaking their eye contact.

"Yaya-chan."

"Hmm?"

"You have to come to practice." Hikari said softly, almost frightfully.

"Says who?"

"The teacher. She said that there would a new choir member today and we all have to come and welcome her."

Yaya didn't know whether to believe this or not. She wasn't paranoid, but knowing Hikari, she would do anything to keep her from ditching choir. She'd do anything to keep her from harming herself, from over thinking, from wallowing in self-pity. Though those times were long gone already, Hikari was still on edge.

Still not facing Hikari, Yaya experienced a new feeling toward the blonde, something she barely felt before. She hinted some annoyance among all the adoration in her heart. Couldn't she just shut up and leave, have a little one-on-one time with Amane? Couldn't she see that she wanted to be left alone? _Why else would I be in the library? _Yaya thought. Blinking, she couldn't help but frown, but she felt a smile tug on the corners of her lips. She felt something new, something negative. This might be a good sign, she grinned.

Trying to keep a straight face, she sighed heavily and turned back around to look Hikari in her eyes.

"Alrighty then. But only because you asked so nicely." Yaya joked, her trademark grin plastered back on her face.

Hikari, being the emotional girl she was, was overjoyed. She nearly squealed, fiercely hugged Yaya and then ran off again, back into the rainy weather outside. Watching the blonde running off, the older Spican shook her head lightly, smiling gently.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, she grabbed her books and checked them out at the counter. Getting her umbrella out of a rack, the raven-haired girl walked out the library doors. Rain patted softly on the purple umbrella, and somehow, it smelled like freshly mowed grass outside. Yaya closed her eyes, took a deep breath and smiled. For the first time she smiled a genuine, happy smile. She'd almost forgotten the feeling.

It was going to be a good day today.  
>=====<p>

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>As Yaya walked into the church she was almost immediately greeted by Hikari, who happily smiled at her. Honestly, sometimes she could be like a pet that followed you around all day.<p>

"Well hello to you too." Yaya said as she hung her white overcoat and umbrella on the coat rack, shaking the rain off the device first before she did so. The tip of her purple umbrella was still dripping with rain, leaving dark, wet stains on the church floor. "Why're _you_ so happy?"

Hikari blushed lightly, and stared down at the floor. "Well, you came… I-I… um, actually didn't think you would come, though you said so, and, well-"

"Now why would I do that?" Yaya laughed, interrupting her. They laughed a bit, genuinely laughed. That's something they hadn't been able to do because of the so often awkwardness that hung between her and the blonde. Some of that now just washed away, and things were heading toward better times. Yaya even had the occasional conversation with Amane. Those little chats were about all the obvious things, and it didn't went as smooth as a real conversation, but, it was a start.

"Now, where's the rookie?" Yaya said, as she and her best friend walked over to the main stage, where most of the other members had gathered already. She proceeded to stand on her toes to see over the choir members.

Frowning, she dropped back down on her feet, turning back to Hikari. The moment she wanted to say something to the blonde she saw the new member walking through the massive church doors.

The whole choir turned en masse to the new member, stopping their conversations abruptly, and they were now quietly whispering to each other, ever so often pointing at the roseate-haired girl who kept walking on, coming closer to the rest of the choir. Her amber eyes shot back and forth, noticeably uncomfortable, but she kept walking straight. Yaya's and the unknown girl's eyes met for a second, making Yaya's frown disappear; a wide grin now played on her lips. This could be fun.

Yaya had to admit, even though the self-conscious look on the girls' face didn't appeal to her, she looked good. Her rose-coloured hair shone brightly from the rain, framing her face, some wet locks stuck to her face. A light, red blush was spread across her face, making her look quite adorable.

"Hikari-senpai." Tsubomi greeted Hikari once she was close enough, curtly bowing in respect of her senpai. Yaya got a bit confused; how could Hikari already know this person? She thought she was totally new to this school, transfer student or something like that. Why hadn't she seen the girl before if she was already in Spica?

Yaya shook her head lightly to make it clear, trying not to look to stupid in front of the new person facing her. A toothy grin flashed across her face as the petite girl made eye contact again, only to break it quickly and blush afterwards. _Yeah, this could be fun._

"Tsubomi-chan," Hikari greeted back at her and, giving a nod towards Yaya, added, "have you met Yaya-chan already?"

"Tsubomi, huh?" Yaya softly whispered to herself, finding the name a tad funny but nice at the same time. She mouthed the name again, finding the tone very comfortable. She grinned again at the kouhai as she walked a little bit closer to the pink-haired girl, curtly bowing, merely out of courtesy.

"Nanto. Yaya Nanto." she said out of habit, feeling a little bit awkward for blurting out such polite things. If it were for Yaya, she would've high fived the girl on the spot.

"Okuwaka Tsubomi." the pinkette replied, as she bowed lightly, but also blushed yet again. Yaya noticed the girl looking at her from underneath her bangs and she flashed yet another grin at the girl. Tsubomi broke the eye contact again, much to Yaya's delight. Something in the pit of the latter's stomach was bubbling with some sort of anxiety. It would be so fun to tease this girl.

Tsubomi stood straight again, and she took in every detail of Yaya, who was now looking in every direction but hers and very much pretending not to notice the other girls' eyes roaming over her.

But she saw the way the smaller girl's eyes followed the strands of her long black hair that fell over her shoulders, down to the choir outfit she wore and then the pause that followed when her amber eyes fell upon her long, slender legs, and remained there for quite some time. Yaya only grinned as she saw Tsubomi's cheeks redden.

"You like what you see, hmm?" Yaya bluntly stated, causing poor Tsubomi to visibly back away, a blush racing up to her cheeks. But, unexpectedly, her eyes shot up to Yaya's with a calm, offended glint in it, though deep down in them, there was embarrassment.

"Hmpf. As if." she plainly said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, come on now," the black-haired Spican replied, stalking closer to Tsubomi, bending over to level her face with the other girl, "you don't have to be ashamed." she whispered with a grin.

Tsubomi's face instantly heat up even more, a big red blush now adorning her face. She stood there for a moment, not sure what to say. Her eyes were narrowed down to an angry glance but her nervous body language said differently. Yaya's eyes glinted. _So our little Tsubomi-chan was the tsundere type_. Hard on the outside, but a softie on the inside.

"Will you all please get your lyrics, we will begin any minute soon." the teacher said to the noisy girls, letting Tsubomi off the hook for now.

Yaya, glad to have an excuse to get away, walked to the coat rack to get her lyrics out of her bag, a crooked smile still on her face. She didn't know what this feeling meant, but she at least knew it felt good and safe, and a little bit exciting. The feel was starting to overpower her. Getting her thoughts back on track, she opened her bag, searched it through but couldn't find the lyrics. The tall girl grimaced, closed her bag and walked towards the teacher.

The sensei was talking to Tsubomi for a bit, and Yaya instantly knew what the teacher had in mind for the girl. She had to introduce herself too when she joined the choir. She hadn't mind it back then, but reading Tsubomi's wrecked expression, she figured that the pinkette would have a little bit more trouble with that then she had back then.

"Excuse me, sensei." Yaya carefully chimed in when the conversation seemed to be over.

"Yes, Nanto-san?"

"I forgot my lyrics. _Gomen ne_." she said, bowing lightly. From underneath her bangs, she eyed Tsubomi, who was still busy with her lyrics, the tip of her tongue poking out from between her lips, giving quite an adorable sight. Yaya smiled and looked back at the teacher.

"Well," the teacher began, looking around vaguely, as if there was a solution to the problem in the air, "you can share lyrics with Okuwaka-san."

Tsubomi, who was reading her lyrics, seemed to paralyze on the spot. Yaya had to try her best not to burst out laughing: she managed to snort and make it sound like a little cough. The roseate-haired girl narrowed her eyes at Yaya.

"Sure thing." Yaya said, shrugging. Sharing lyrics with Tsubomi. That meant that she had to look over her shoulder. She grinned mischievously.

"Yaya, if you will go and stand with the other girls, I'll finish my conversation with Okuwaka-san and then we can start."  
>=====<p>

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>An: so this was just a little prologue from Yaya's point of view, just to set a start. And because this is all that I could make from the original part without leaving out too much. I still want the original structure. Next up will be a prologue-ish thingy from Tsubomi's perspective. For those who are interested in the original, go visit my deviant Art account, but I warn you: it is very badly written. But it's fun to compare to now though :3**

**Hope you liked this, and I will update as soon as possible! Read&Review, please? That would make me a very, very happy girl :3  
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><em><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!<strong>_  
>=====<p> 


	2. Ch 2: Prejudices May Be Proven Wrong

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><strong>Chapter Two<br>**=====

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>Prejudices May Be Proven Wrong<br>**=====

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>"Everyone," the teacher began, trying to catch all of the girls' attention at once, and for one time succeeding to do so, "this is our new member, Okuwaka Tsubomi."<p>

Tsubomi stepped forward and bowed, under the watchful eyes of all the choir member. Some looked interested with a truthful, enthusiastic look in their eyes to welcome the newbie, but some looked distant and disapproving, whispering and gossiping away with other girls. Tsubomi hated it when people judged before they even got to know her. This would happen every time she was new somewhere. In primary school, in her new class, even by her new neighbors when she had moved house. _She hated it._

But none the less, the amber-eyed girl took a deep breath and introduced herself.

"Hello every one. I just want to say that I'm very happy to sing with this beautiful choir. I hope I don't make too many mistakes." she said as polite as she could, and she hoped she wasn't looking to nervous. She looked up and everyone started applauding, some girls even greeted her back. Tsubomi smiled and was quite pleased with herself, although it was the scariest thing she'd ever done.

The teacher laid one hand on her shoulder, and said that she could go and stand next to Yaya. Slowly, deeply in thoughts, Tsubomi walked over to Yaya. She actually didn't mind that she had to stand next to her, but something about the older girl made her feel uncomfortable. It was very weird, she couldn't quite place the strange feeling, but ever since she'd looked into her brown eyes she'd been feeling a little warm and confused.

Though, her mind was scolding at Yaya. At her weird, straight-forward behaviour and the way she'd just teased her like that. She didn't even know her. She hasn't got the right to act like that. Tsubomi didn't knew what this particular feeling towards Yaya meant, but she didn't dislike it, though it made her a little on-guard. She didn't like people coming too close too fast. Yaya on the other hand, seemed very relaxed.

"Please, all get page twelve in front of you, then we can start."

Tsubomi leafed through the booklet until she was at the correct page, then held the paper slightly towards Yaya so she could read it too. She looked at the older girl and got a nod of approvement.

"We will start from verse number one."

As a friendly help, Yaya pointed out verse one for Tsubomi, who looked very thankful for that. She whispered a soft thank you to the girl just before the piano started playing. A few soft notes filled the entire chapel, the sound reverberating around the giant room, and then the girls started singing.

_"Just like the whiteness of noble lilies,  
>just like the redness of mysterious roses."<em>  
><em><br>"Just like the greenness of green fields,  
>the heavenly queen's beautiful sleep."<em>

Tsubomi just couldn't concentrate at all. This was her first time singing in this choir, which made her more nervous than ever before. And as if that wasn't enough pressure to begin with, she practically felt every watchful, judging eye that was cast upon her, waiting for her to make a mistake so they could gossip about it. To top that, she, for some weird and unidentifiable reason, felt every single little move Yaya made next to her, making her lose track.

She was about to majorly mess it up, but the whole choir was suddenly interrupted by a happy looking Chikaru, who came bursting though the chapel doors.

"Everyone, _gomen ne _to interrupt you, but I've got some great news!" she said to all the girls. The moment she said that, all the choir member started whispering and gasping, jumping conclusions way too fast. Tsubomi rolled her eyes, but was interested none the less. Chikaru took a moment to catch her breath, it was most likely that she ran all the way to the church: she was famous for her enthusiasm when it came to school-related activities. Everyone knew that the black-haired beauty was the queen of the club life at Lu Rim.

"The school play for this year for Spica, Lu Rim and Miator's first years will be decided today." she almost shouted out with happiness, smiling brightly, "If you want to play in it, come to see me in my room this afternoon. If there are any people from higher classes that want to assist, please feel free to come too."

Tsubomi almost involuntarily took a quick look at Yaya. But the latter just only smiled mysteriously at her. She shifted her gaze back at Chikaru, who thanked the sensei for listening and excused herself.

The moment Chikaru had closed the doors again, the girls started talking, completely forgetting their practice and the sensei who stood a little powerless and defeated in front of them. Tsubomi heard people loudly discussing roles and different plays and pairings and other stuff that she didn't even understand, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

Though she wasn't so new to this school anymore, she still felt like she knew no one really well enough. She only knew Hikari and Amane, some other random girls. The rest avoided her like she had some disease. Today only confirmed her suspicions. They only bright thing about today was meeting Yaya, who she saw as possible friend-material if she would cease the teasing and the weird, ambivalent looks and grins.

"Well, you can all go now. Practice for today is over." the teacher managed to chime in at some point, disappointed. Tsubomi left, lost in thought.  
>=====<p>

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>Tsubomi had put on her coat and was already on the way outside when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She thought it was the teacher, so she turned around with a big smile. That smile faded immediately and made place for a frown when she saw it was Yaya, smiling warmly at her. The younger Spican stammered something incomprehensible. Tsubomi couldn't quite understand why she was following her around so much. She just met her, she couldn't be <em>that<em> interesting.

"Are you going to join the play, Tsubomi?" Yaya asked.

"Yeah I think so. I like school plays a lot, and I also like acting." she replied, looking at her feet. Yaya's hand was still on her shoulder, her whole arm now tingling and getting warm. Tsubomi scolded herself for letting such bashful, stupid and ridiculous thoughts and feelings into her head, but she just couldn't stop it. It confused her.

"Good. I'm one of the organizers and I'm playing too," Yaya said to her, lifting Tsubomi's head up with her other hand just a little bit. Their eyes met, brown and amber staring into each other, "It'd be fun if we could go together?"

"Um, sure?"

"Sure? Sounds like you don't want me to." the elder Spican feigned a sad voice and bowed over, leveling their faces again like she had done so before. Tsubomi went stiff as a board as Yaya just only stared at her with a weird, mysterious expression, a crooked half-smile playing on her lips. She had a vague thought that it would take a long time before she would get used to the other girl's strange, teasing behaviour.

"You do want me, don't you?" Yaya whispered, subtly seductive, a strange and mischievous smile playing on her lips, a hidden glint of pleasure in her eyes. Tsubomi quickly caught on the ambiguous statement and felt her cheeks go red, but she wasn't planning to cave in that easily.

"You're quite full of yourself, aren't you?" she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. The roseate-haired girl kept looking Yaya straight in the eye, and something flickered in them when the words registered. But her cheeky grin quickly reappeared.

"And you're quite the brat, aren't you? I'm just asking you if you'd want to go with me," Yaya chuckled, straightening herself to full height again, now looking slightly down at Tsubomi, "A simple yes or no is fine."

"Fine, I'll go with you." Tsubomi grumbled under her breath after some time, looking down with a small blush on her face, "B-but only because I don't want to go alone, okay?"

"Alrighty!" the taller girl happily responded, taking Tsubomi's hand in her own. The latter noticed that Yaya's hand was considerably larger, though it felt soft, delicate and warm.

"Let's go then." and before Tsubomi knew it Yaya had dragged her along, through the church doors, out in the rain and under Yaya's purple umbrella. The smaller girl was again blushing, not knowing what exactly just happened, her eyes insecurely gazing at Yaya, but she just smiled at her. Tsubomi vaguely noted that she still had hold of her hand.  
>=====<p>

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><strong>An: QUICK UPDATE! =D hmm, not entirely satisfied about this cause it's a bit on the short side, but it's just a prologue/introduction into Tsubomi's thoughts and behaviour and merely an introduction to the whole story. Once again, I tried to let most of the original dialogue and actions and such in, but in the original I was way too fast with feelings developing, so I hope they're still a bit on beginner level as for this chapter. If they're not, or you think something else should happen, please say so! :3**

**Thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far! Some were quite helpful in regards to keeping Yaya and Tsubomi in character, and I've tried to work on it (: thank you guys for motivating me to continue and update regularly. I'll try to update so soon again! But I can't promise anything.**

**Read&Review if you'd want to =]  
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><em><strong>Disclaimer: Strawberry Panic! belongs to its rightful owners.<strong>_  
>=====<p> 


	3. Ch 3: Romeo and Juliet

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><strong>Chapter Three<br>**=====

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>An: so, chapter three already! I hope you guys still like this fic! :3 I sure know I do. So this takes chapter takes Yaya and Tsubomi's get-to-know-each-other a little further and further, with help of the roles and events of the school play. Things start to fall in place bit by bit. In this part I did alter the original more, because the original moved way too fast. This is a bit more slow, more realistic.**

**But I shouldn't be spoilering, go read for yourselves!  
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><strong>Romeo and Juliet<strong>  
>=====<p>

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>Tsubomi and Yaya walked together in complete silence. Raindrops patted every so softly on the umbrella with a steady but fast rhythm and it gave, accompanied by the gentle sound of the drizzle on the pavement, a relaxed and somewhat calm atmosphere to everything. Only few people were outside, some of them hastily running past Yaya and Tsubomi without an umbrella to shelter them from the pouring rain, giggling and yelling like little girls.<p>

Even though it was raining, it was somewhat clear outside. Trees silently swayed their branches in the breeze, their newly grown leaves visible through the light fog that hung around. Colours seemed somehow clearer and brighter. The air smelled crisp, fresh and clean and it was just a little bit cold outside, but not the type of cold you'd hate or that would give you the chills. It was relaxing, because the temperature was just about right to think enormously clear. The kind of cold you would need to set your mind straight.

And as Yaya and Tsubomi walked to the club room to sign themselves in for the school play, both of them took the opportunity to think for a bit.

Tsubomi felt a bit awkward about the whole situation. She barely knew Yaya and here she was, walking with her under an umbrella, hand in hand none the less. People who walked past must've thought they were a couple. And she didn't even know why she was still holding Yaya's hand in the first place, but nothing inside her gave her any intention of letting go. But the pinkette quickly dismissed these thoughts. All she really wanted was to get to know Yaya better, because she'd been one of the few people that honestly seemed to like her, though her ways of showing it were a little off. She just didn't know what to think of the elder Spican just yet.

Yaya on the other hand was enthusiastic. Something about the way Tsubomi made her feel appealed to her. Sure, there was that somewhat mature and self-conscious edge about her that annoyed her a little bit, but she could see past that. All Yaya was thinking about right now were ways to tease the girl and by that, getting to know her. She hadn't felt this good in quite some time.

Both of them were aware of the stretching silence, so Yaya was first to break it.

"So, Tsubomi," she began, looking sideways, "did you like choir practice?"

"Well, for as long as it lasted, yes." Tsubomi answered, glad that Yaya had brought up the casual question. The silence was making her feel uneasy.

"Alrighty then. Can I ask why you joined the choir? No offense, but you strike me as the… silent type." Yaya asked carefully with a smile, eyeing Tsubomi from the corner from underneath her dark hair. She saw the contemplative look that struck her cute features for a moment, and Yaya knew she'd struck a sensitive chord.

"I don't know," the smaller girl shrugged, looking away, "I like to sing."

"Singing and acting, huh? I think we have ourselves a little star over here." Yaya playfully sang, not going further in on the subject. She could see Tsubomi didn't want to talk about it, and she could understand. After all, they'd just met. She would've done the same.

"_Baka! _I'm not an actress or something." Tsubomi replied, her cheeks once again flushing bright red with embarrassment, and on instant she let go of Yaya's hand to cross her arms over her chest. She didn't even know why she always did that, but it gave her a safe and defensive feeling. Like no one could get to her. It had kind of grown on her ever since she started using the gesture. But Yaya only heartily chuckled at her reaction and patted Tsubomi on the head, making the latter puff her cheeks up and pout out of sheer annoyance.

They had arrived at Lu Rim in the meanwhile, and they walked through the entrance doors. Once inside, they nearly got assaulted with students who promoted for all kinds of clubs and school-related activities, leaflets flying all over the place, the one girl shouting even louder than the other.

Yaya had managed to dash through the mob of girls, once again dragging poor Tsubomi with her, who was yet again dazed by the sudden situation.

"Haha, sorry about that." the dark-haired girl chuckled, straightening her white Spica uniform. She looked at Tsubomi's stunned expression and she laughed. She'd never visited Lu Rim by the looks of it, but she decided to ask, "You've never been at Lu Rim before?"

"…No. They're quite feisty."

Yaya laughed, "Yeah! They sure are," she said, and nodded her head in the direction they needed to go to, "come on, it's over here." Tsubomi continued to follow her around the corridors of Lu Rim. It struck Tsubomi how different the students here were, they were so alive and so heartily. The Lu Rim girls ran all over the hallways, laughing and yelling. They actually made Tsubomi laugh too for a bit. Sure, Spica was a great school and all, and she had no regrets for picking it as school to follow her education at, but this seemed more loose, more free. Spica was strict. Excellent, but strict.

They rounded more corners and walked up some flights of stairs, until they'd gotten to the room which seemed to belong to the Drama and Acting department. Yaya knocked on the door and Chikaru opened it not too long after.

"Yaya-san, come in! Oh, and this must be Tsubomi-san, if I'm correct?" Chikaru asked with a lovely smile playing on her lips, her eyes twinkling friendly as she looked at the both of them. Yaya and Tsubomi both wondered how she'd know Tsubomi's name, but then they figured that there of course was nothing the queen of the three schools didn't know about.

"Yep." Yaya stated, and Tsubomi merely nodded. The black-haired beauty let them in the room where several other students had gathered already. Chikaru took Yaya apart almost instantly, leaving Tsubomi on her own. Letting her gaze float across the room, she saw lots of first- and second years she didn't even know. Then the amber-eyed girl spotted Tsukidate Chiyo among the crowd, her roommate. She frowned: she didn't particularly like the girl, but she went over to her anyway.

"Hey, Chiyo-san."

"O-oh, Tsubomi-chan," the girl started, jumpy as ever, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, joining in for the play, obviously." Tsubomi said, rolling her eyes. She sighed, crossed her arms over her chest and involuntarily let her eyes search the room again, only looking out for Yaya this time. She had no idea why, but once her eyes had found her she fixed them upon her, following her every single movement. Tsubomi blushed with frustration.

On the other end of the room, said Yaya was busy preparing the voting system with Chikaru. They had chosen several famous plays for the first- and second years to choose from, making it easier for them than to think of one themselves. Grabbing a black marker, Yaya scribbled down the possibilities on a white board. Wuthering Heights, Romeo and Juliet and Little Women. She then nodded at Chikaru, who proceeded to silence the room full of enthusiastic girls. Yaya was surprised at how well she succeeded.

"Okay, so, as you all know, the higher classes are doing a play this year," Yaya began, turning to the group of students, "but Chikaru and I have arranged one for you guys as well."

She then pointed at the whiteboard.

"As you can see, we have limited options, but I'm sure there's one play we can all agree on. So let's start voting. First, Wuthering Heights." Yaya said to all of them. Only a few girl raised their hands. She counted them and wrote it down next to the name on the whiteboard.

"Who votes for Romeo and Juliet?" the Spican then asked. A lot of girls started giggling at the mention of the name, and the lot of them raised their hands in the air. From across the room, Yaya could see Tsubomi raising her hand also. Yaya snickered quietly. _Who would've thought, little Tsubomi-chan_. She counted the votes quickly, including herself.

Then they counted votes for Little Women, who was second-best in votes.

As the final decision was being made by Chikaru and Yaya, the first years started talking about the big school play Carmen, done by the higher years for this year's Cultural Festival. They were all so stoked about Chikaru, the queen of Lu Rim and Ootori Amane, the star of Spica playing in it. And of course the oh so famous Étoile-sama. Yaya overheard some conversations about Chikaru being such a great actress. She groaned and interrupted them.

"Why do you all keep going back to that topic?" she said, moving in front of them, "No offense though, Chikaru-sama." she quickly added, nodding at Chikaru, who only cutely chuckled and waved it off. Some of the first years weren't silent immediately, when Yaya interrupted but some of them turned around to finally listen.

"Hey, listen up!" Yaya shouted, and the remaining talking students were now listening too. From afar, Tsubomi raised her eyebrow in question at her behaviour, but chuckled at the same time at the short fuse Yaya seemed to have.

"We've decided on Romeo and Juliet. Is that okay with everyone?"

As if on cue, all the first- and second years started yelling about roles, about certain people being paired up as Romeo and Juliet, about the school play Carmen again and about nothing in particular, fed by their anxiety for the play. They all enthusiastically raised their hands and fists in the air, all at once trying to capture Yaya's attention. The latter only blinked in utter confusion as the students were now completely hyper and out of control. Yaya's eyebrow twitched dangerously and she had the urge to smack herself across the face.

Tsubomi, on the other side of the room, caught on the somehow contagious hyperness from the other students and, together with Hyuuga Kizuna, raised her hand and shouted.

"I want to be Juliet too!" she yelled, laughing and jumping up in the air to gain Yaya's attention.

"Geez, everyone! Don't decide on your own!" Yaya shouted, trying to silence them, but failing miserably. She cast a desperate glance at Chikaru, but she was too busy observing the little girls having fun rather than helping her out.

"I also want to be Romeo…" she said softly and shyly, more to herself.

Out of nowhere, Kagome, Remon and Oshibaru came up. Kagome silently, and quite creepily, started throwing Oshibaru in the air, to the surprise of all the students. Yaya raised her eyebrow: could things get even weirder? As if a whole class full of hyper first years wasn't enough.

Kizuna understood it, and 'translated' what Kagome meant, "She wants to be Romeo too!"

Yaya's nostrils flared open from pure frustration. For a split-second, she pondered why she had signed up to be a part of this in the first place. She wasn't the type of person to get mad easily, but she hated it when other people weren't listening to her. And this was a very extreme case. Luckily for Yaya, Chikaru finally came to the rescue. She gracefully stepped in front of the roaring mob of girls and just stood there, a small smile on her lips. And as each second passed, the girls became more quiet. After a minute or so, the whole class room was silent again, much to Yaya's relief.

"So, Yaya-san and I have been discussing, and the roles are as following," the queen said, pausing for a bit before continuing, "first of all, the role of Juliet will be filled in by Okuwaka Tsubomi."

A yelp could be heard from the other side of the room. Tsubomi was dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at Chikaru. Sure, she'd wanted to join in the play, but why the hell would they give her the lead role? She hadn't even done an audition for them so they could judge her skills.

"_A-arigatou!" _she replied, bowing lightly under the smiles of both Yaya and Tsubomi. Some of the students in the room gave her a short applause.

"Her other half, her counterpart, the love of her life," Chikaru dramatically continued, making some of the girls giggle, "the brave young man Romeo, will be filled in by no one less than Nanto Yaya."

As surprised as she was, Yaya couldn't help but grin. She bowed before the class and gave a quick nod at Chikaru. She felt a bit honored, chosen by the queen of Lu Rim. Then, she let her eyes scan the group of girls, and soon they fell on the amber ones of Tsubomi. Yaya quickly winked at her, grinning when she saw the blush that appeared on the pinkette's face.

"Furthermore, Kagome will be the maid of Juliet, and the other roles will be distributed to your wish, so come see me." Chikaru ended her little speech. On instant, the girls stormed forward to get their script. Yaya casually walked over to Tsubomi and handed over her script, flashing a toothy grin.

"So, you happy with your role?"

"Yeah, yeah I am, I guess. I just don't see why you chose me as Juliet." Tsubomi replied, breaking off a little at the end of her sentence, looking down with a small, shy smile.

"You guess? Don't you want to be playing as my lover?" Yaya asked back teasingly, emphasizing the word love for good measure. She let one of her fingers stroke the side of Tsubomi's face, chuckling at the reaction it caused. Tsubomi mumbled some incomprehensible words, looking down.

"Aw, come on, I'm just joking." she added, playfully poking the younger girl in the ribs with her elbow. Tsubomi looked up again, her expression somewhere between insecure and annoyed. Yaya flashed another trademark grin and hooked her arm through Tsubomi's.

"Say, you want to go practice lines with me tomorrow night?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Tsubomi replied, feeling a bit pleasantly numb from all the events from today. Once again, Yaya had managed to catch her off-guard. And she knew from herself that she _always_had her walls up high. But somehow, Yaya managed to break them down so easily. She didn't even know how it all could've happened so fast. She was already beginning to feel an affection for the girl, though she only knew Yaya for less than a day.

"Okay. I'll pick you up around eight?"

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><strong>An: **_**oh, so it's a date then?**_** Tee-hee. I hoped you guys all liked this chapter. As you can maybe see, there's some original dialogue from the anime in it! ^^ I wanted this part to be a little longer though, but that would have to wait until next chapter. I hope I'm not taking the development of feelings too fast. Just to be sure, the next chapter starts off the day after this, not on the same day like the last few chaps =D**

**Still liking it so far? Hating it? Feeling I'm doing something wrong? Don't hesitate to tell then, Read&Review please! :3  
><strong>=====

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><em><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!<strong>_**  
><strong>=====


	4. Ch 4: So It's A Date Then?

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><strong>Chapter Four<br>**=====

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><strong>So It's a Date Then?<br>**=====

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>Yaya yawned in class and lazily drew random figures on her notebook. She knew deep down that she had to do her Advanced Literature homework, but it was still so early: her brains wouldn't start working until noon, and her thoughts were somewhere else completely. Strangely, they returned to the subject Tsubomi very often. Yaya had to admit, she was in fact looking forward to tonight. She was just totally clueless why exactly.<p>

She looked outside the window. The rain still hadn't ceased falling, in fact, it had started raining heavier since last night, the grey drizzle making it impossible to look farther than maybe twenty feet ahead now. Yaya sighed. As if the weather wasn't depressing enough, the monotone drone of the teacher's voice now commanded her to listen, too. Slowly turning her attention back to the lesson, she absentmindedly nodded at the statement the teacher made, then actually paid attention for a few minutes but before moving her gaze to the rain again, lost in thought. Frowning, she tried to find a legit, honest reason why she was liking Tsubomi so much. Yaya didn't particularly like the mature attitude about the girl, but something about her kept complying her to be with her.

Hikari flickered in her head for a split second. She didn't know why: the girl was slowly disappearing from her mind. Yaya would be glad if she never had to think about her again. But she guessed it was just part of the process, you know, forgetting her but having to think of her occasionally. Then again, part of her didn't want to forget the girl. Her mind wouldn't focus right. As if there was some conflict going on in there.

Chewing on her pencil, she pondered. About everything. Hikari, Tsubomi, Amane, herself. About the kind of relationship she had with either of the girls. What value did they have, for her?  
>=====<p>

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>Quick, light footsteps pounded on the wet ground, making the water fly out to every direction, leaving temporary footprints made out of bubbles. The sound of the pouring rain and the rhythm of the footsteps was almost like a mantra, always repeating, never stopping.<p>

Tsubomi cursed herself for forgetting her umbrella today. She ran the last part to Spica until she was on the porch, safe and dry, using the roof for shelter. The roseate-haired girl bent over, hands on her knees, and took a moment to get her breath back. Her hair was wet and dripping, leaving dark spots on the wooden floor. She closed her eyes for a minute and savoured the feel of being dry for just a moment, even though her whole outfit was soaked beyond ever drying again. Standing back up straight, she sighed and took a moment to look at herself and gauge the damage. Tsubomi frowned. How was she going to go through class looking like _this_?

Grimacing, she pushed the doors open and briskly stalked in, deciding not to give in to this, but she ended up bumping straight into someone. She was about to fall, if two warm and strong arms hadn't kept her firmly in place.

"Whoa, there!"

Tsubomi looked up, about to apologize, but she then looked straight into Yaya's brown eyes, which were glinting with surprise, her eyebrows above them raised. The taller girl grinned at her.

"Geez, Tsubomi, I know you like me, but you could've done it a little more subtle." Yaya chuckled, flashing a brief grin at Tsubomi. She let go of the younger girl and put her hand on her hip. Tsubomi was a little speechless for a second, but then the words suddenly sank in. She blushed almost immediately, but retorted just as quickly and fiercely.

"Oh, right," she rolled her eyes, "My bad. I'll note you next time I'll fall for you, okay?" an undertone of sarcasm lined her voice as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Yaya only grinned, but then resumed to take a more serious attitude. Her eyes scanned the sight of poor, soaked-through Tsubomi. Her eyebrows furrowed over her eyes. Though the sight was somewhat comical, she did worry about her. She couldn't go to class like this. Not without either freezing to death or being humiliated. Yaya knew how some of the girls at Spica could be like, so she just couldn't let Tsubomi stand here.

"You really planning to go to class like this?" Yaya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… yeah. I have to."

"No you don't," the black-haired Spican replied with a half-smile, "let's go."

And with that said, Yaya simply grabbed Tsubomi by the wrist and pulled her along once again, back through the Spica entrance doors and back into the rainy weather. It took Tsubomi some time to break the firm, warm grip Yaya had on her arm, and then pulled loose, standing there in the rain with a confused look on her face.

"What's with you- I can't just skip class!" she said, shaking her head, casting a questionable gaze at Yaya's brown, friendly eyes.

"Why not?" Yaya countered, taking a step closer to Tsubomi. She could feel the rain seeping into her clothes, pouring over her face, cooling her down rapidly, but she really didn't mind. She'd always liked rain. It was so soothing, so calming. And even at this moment, she felt at place. As she watched Tsubomi's insecure expression, something in her heart seemed to happen. She didn't know if it was because of the rain, or the moment, a higher power even, or something entirely else, but the way Tsubomi looked at her with those amber eyes shimmering with both disapproval and curiosity was suddenly so intriguing. And the way the rain poured down her cute yet serious face suddenly meant the world to her.

Yaya blinked as she tried to regain focus, not entirely placing what had just happened to her, as Tsubomi's words slowly registered into her mind.

"_Why not? _Are you insane? Exams are coming up you know, I can't skip class now."

With that, Tsubomi turned around, walking back. A grimace was spread across her face, but deep inside she wanted to run away with Yaya. Deep inside, she wanted to let go for once, wanted to do something not so goodie-two-shoes like she always did. Her pace slowed down a bit, as if she was waiting for Yaya to grab her wrist and pull her back yet again, that cheeky smile on her face, those eyes glinting ever so mysteriously.

But it didn't happen.

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" Yaya faintly mumbled as Tsubomi walked away from her. She was still standing with her back facing the roseate-haired girl, too scared to look her in the eye again. Too scared for the feelings that would bubble up again. Her eyes were shut, the rain dripping from her long, dark lashes. This just couldn't be happening again. She couldn't be falling in love again.  
>=====<p>

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>"Say, Hikari," Yaya began at dinner, casually swinging her fork around, causing food to fly around everywhere, "what're you doing tonight?"<p>

"Oh, I'm going over to A-Amane-senpai… if that's okay." the blonde carefully replied, monitoring Yaya's face with great anxiety. But her expression remained normal, and Hikari smiled lightly. She'd been impressed with how far Yaya had gotten lately.

"Yeah, that's great! I need our room so that's totally okay." Yaya said before turning back to her food. She wasn't exactly planning on answering any questions why she needed it. She was still too caught up with the feeling she'd gotten earlier today, still not having a clue where it came from so suddenly, and if it would fade away or not. She had to be honest, it had ebbed away a little, but the uneasy yet comfortable feeling was still there.

But, she decided not to give too much notice towards it. As much as she hated it, she'd have to deny it. It was just a weird feeling. It would go away if she didn't think about it.

On the other end of the long dining table sat Tsubomi, who was absentmindedly poking her food, her head resting on her other hand. She'd been wondering why Yaya had turned so sullen and weird all of the sudden this afternoon, and the thought still bothered her now. She hadn't had the slightest idea why the elder girl acted like that. Was it because of her? Unwillingly, her eyes travelled to Yaya, but she quickly looked down when the latter only _seemed _to look back.

Tsubomi cursed herself, poking her fork in her food hard for good measure. Even though it was none of her business, she was still worried. She still barely knew Yaya, and still she wanted to be part of whatever was going on with that girl. For now, she decided to let it rest. It would work out.

Casting another glance at the black-haired girl, she resumed stabbing her food.  
>=====<p>

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>Later that evening, Yaya walked to Tsubomi's room, mindlessly crossing the hallways and staircases, smiling whenever she walked into someone she knew. For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw the Étoile-sama scurrying off in some room with a red-haired companion. As a matter of fact, Yaya wouldn't even be surprised. The woman does have a reputation.<p>

Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she breathed in, doing her best to put aside the weird feeling she'd been having for now. She wasn't going to bother Tsubomi with it. She'd have the time to sort it all out soon enough.

Yaya came to a halt at room 203: the pinkette's room. A small grin tugged on Yaya's lips as she knocked on the door twice, then standing back a little to wait. Seconds later, the door opened, revealing Tsubomi in casual clothes.

"Hey there," Yaya chuckled, unnoticeably letting her eyes roam all over Tsubomi. It wasn't very special, just skinny jeans and a big, well-loved comfy sweater. Yaya had to admit, it quite suited her. The one thing that _was_different was that her hair was loose, freed from the black hair band she always wore. Her rose locks now fell more freely over her face, framing it nicely, giving a rather adorable look. "Ready to go?"

"…How do you even know this is my room?"

"I have my ways." Yaya grinned mischievously.

Tsubomi's eyes nearly doubled in size, a weird, somewhat fearful expression on her face, causing Yaya to burst out into laughter, "Relax, little girl, I got directions from Hikari."

"R-right," the pinkette replied, casting her eyes down in embarrassment, "I'll go get my stuff." she said as she shuffled back into her room, grabbing her script on the way out again, closing the door behind her. She was surprised with the fact that Yaya seemed perfectly normal again. Tsubomi figured that was better, so things wouldn't get awkward… or so she wouldn't worry more.

Following Yaya to her room, Tsubomi stayed rather quiet. She allowed Yaya to talk about several things, but she didn't respond a lot. The raven-haired Spican, however, noticed.

"You lost your tongue, Tsubomi-chan?" she grinned.

"Ah, no, I'm just thinking."

"'Bout what?" Yaya inquired, casting her eyes over to Tsubomi, who indeed seemed a bit lost in thoughts. Her honey-coloured eyes were fairly remote, her pace a little sluggish.

Tsubomi bit her lip and looked down for a second. She couldn't bluntly tell that she was thinking about her, could she? That would be her worst mistake in forever, seeing ahead of the various and obvious ways in which Yaya could tease her once she would've said that. _No, that wouldn't be too good of a plan._

"The play." she then plainly said.

"I see," said Yaya, and she then casually draped her arm over Tsubomi's shoulder and pressed her up against herself a bit for good measure. Poor Tsubomi stiffened up noticeably. "What about it then? Are you not looking forward to it?"

"W-well no, of course I am… it's just a lot of text and all- being the lead role… I don't want to screw it up once the big day's finally there, you know. That'd be a complete disaster."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. It's quite a responsibility." Yaya answered, rounding a corner in the hallway, passing by some girls who politely bowed. She found it hard to believe if Tsubomi was telling the truth. It really seemed like something more was bothering her than a simple play. But, she decided not to confront her with it. Obviously, the amber-eyed girl didn't want to talk about it.

"But I do hope you're looking forward to playing my_ loverrrr_, Tsubomi-chan~. I expect you to be." the elder Spican added, singing in a playful tone, flashing a toothy grin to the girl next to her. Once again, Tsubomi noticeably stiffened up.

"As if I'd be looking forward to having a lover who's as idiotic as you. But I'll try my best at acting like I am." Tsubomi smugly retorted, not preventing a small smile from tugging on her lips.

"Oh, getting cocky now, are we?"

"No, just stating the facts."

"Why you little-" Yaya laughed and, without thinking, pounced on Tsubomi. The latter found herself pressed against a door within seconds, Yaya's hands holding her wrists and the elder girl's face hovering dangerously close to her own. Fortunately enough, the door she was backed up against was the door to Yaya's room. But then again, _she _didn't know that. All she did feel and know now was how Yaya's hot breath tickled on her lips, and her how fast her heart was beating in her ribcage.

Yaya just only smirked for a moment, watching the blush slowly but surely creep its way up Tsubomi's cheeks, watching her amber eyes avoid her own like the plague. No matter how much Tsubomi would lash at her, harsh words didn't hurt her so much. The poor girl should've known.

"Now who's the cocky one, huh?" Tsubomi said after a moment of recollection, visibly surprising Yaya with that comment.

"I'm not cocky, kiddo," Yaya grinned, "just re-affirming the fact that you're a puny girl."

"What! I'm certainly not _pun_y_!_" the roseate-haired girl fiercely replied, almost growling even, while turning redder by the second. Her breath came out in rigid huffs, some out of sheer irritation and embarrassment. She narrowed her eyes at Yaya, but hated the fact that she could not break the hold that the noir-haired girl had on her. No matter how hard she tried to get her hands loose, Yaya wouldn't budge.

"Says the girl who is backed up against a door." another wide grin.

"C-can we just get on with it?" said Tsubomi after a few seconds of trying her best to escape but failing to do so. She decided it was best to submit, even though she wanted to refuse to do that. She just felt so embarrassed. "Okay? Okay."

"As you wish, princess." the elder girl sang, releasing the grip on Tsubomi's wrist. Deep inside, under her cool, restrained exterior, Yaya felt a familiar twang of excitement. Her stomach was lurching pleasantly with these events. But she decided to let that feeling go for now, it was too coincidental with the feeling from this afternoon. Yaya briefly grinned at Tsubomi, then proceeded to open the door and letting the two of them in. It was a miracle that her side of the room was cleaned up. Well, at least tidy enough to be shown to other people.

Yaya plopped down on the bed, closing her eyes momentarily, leaving Tsubomi to stand in the middle of the room, kind of unsure what to do or where to sit down.

"So, um, how's your role going instead?" the pinkette asked casually, trying to rid herself of the enormously awkward feeling that seemed to nestle in her heart.

"I have no clue. Why'd you think I wanted to practice lines?"

"…Let me guess, you haven't even looked at the script, have you?" Tsubomi asked.

"I haven't even _touched _it."

Tsubomi's eyebrow twitched dangerously. _Is she serious? _Not even touched the thing and the play only two weeks away? She knew, two weeks seems like a damn lot of time, but not when you have pages and pages of text to learn. Shakespearian text, none the less. Then those two weeks will rush you by and before you will know the day is there.

"Alright." the pinkette said, grabbing her script and opening it on the correct page, "We'd better get started then. Page 31, okay?"

Yaya leafed through the script. She noticed that Tsubomi had picked out the balcony scene to practice. She wanted a balcony scene? She could get one. "Oh, Juliet, you were the angel with the wings," she began, very much overemphasizing her lines with a grin on her face whilst reading along with the script, "may I ask you to show them again?"

She then proceeded to dramatically lift her arm up towards Tsubomi, "My beautiful angel!"

Tsubomi, who was supposed to say her lines now, just stood there for a few seconds, looking at Yaya with an expression that practically shouted 'you damn idiot'. The smaller girl sighed, rolled her eyes but rehearsed her own lines anyway.

"O Romeo, Romeo!' she said to Yaya, feeling a bit awkward, "wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Just as Yaya was about to reply with her set of text, she snorted rather loudly and then bursted out in laughter. She nearly buckled over, and every time she was about to stop, she looked at Tsubomi's angry, red face and she just started all over again. As the tears were about to stream down her face out of sheer amusement, Tsubomi huffed and hit Yaya on the head with her script.

"I'm- I'm sorry," she said in between laughs, "I can't help it- you're just such a ridiculous Juliet!"

"What! And why the hell is that?"

"I don't know!" Yaya chuckled, calming down again, the glint of fun still in her eyes, "You… you just are! Utterly ridiculous. But cute though."

"Hmpf." Tsubomi only huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking the other way, puffing up her cheeks and pouting for good measure. But, she could feel the blush creep its way to her cheeks once again. She didn't know why Yaya's statement caught her off guard so much. Not just her statement, but the way her eyes sparkled when she said it… The pinkette realized what was going through her mind and caught her thoughts just in time, quickly banishing them. _Dammit._

"Hey, but it seems like I'll need some more practice. Whadda you say… tomorrow, same time?" Yaya asked, feeling a pang of excitement again. She tried not to let Tsubomi take notice of it. "And, I don't know, maybe we can just chill and talk afterwards or something?"

"Y-yeah that's okay." the younger Spican replied, feeling her stomach flip over just a little bit at Yaya's words. This couldn't be good, but she didn't _not _want it either.

"So it's a date then?"  
>=====<p>

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><strong>An: omg what? A date? Yes. Yes, a date. Good things will happen next chapter, trust me… maybe… maybe they'll kiss. Yeah huh, what about that? Tee-hee =D**

**So, fourth chapter already! Whatcha guys think? I don't know, I think they're quite in character in this one, I dare say! I like how Yaya's acting in this chapter. I should try and keep her this way. Tsubomi is… welp, I dunno if she's Tsubomi-ish enough. But I think she is. ****But of course I'd want to hear you guys tell me what's wrong and what's not! Your reviews have been supportive and helping as ever, though there weren't many of 'em :3 So please, Read&Review to give me more ideas and motivation! You all have been a great help so far, your reviews keep me writing! So please, be helpful again, I'd be forever grateful (:**

**Hope you guys still like this fic!  
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><em><strong>Disclaimer: Strawberry Panic! belongs to whoever made that lovely anime.<br>**_=====


	5. Ch 5: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

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><strong>Chapter Five<br>**=====

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><strong>An: another new chapter! I can't believe how easily I'm writing this fic. It's going so smoothly, with descriptions and the dialogue (I used to be really suckish at dialogue) all flowing out of my fingertips :) I like it very much! These last few chapters are going to be more of a very remastered, short version of my original fic. The original fic was at the play already by chapter five, and that's going to happen here around… eight or something. I'll have a few chaps more after this one, maybe it'll get to ten but not more (: Maybe one day a continuation fic, if people like it enough? =D**

**As for the chapter itself: things are going differently by now. Yaya is becoming more and more seductive and Tsubomi seems harder to get to than ever… what will happen once the day of the play gets closer and closer? Read it for yourselves! :3  
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>She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not<br>**=====

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>"Hey, Tsubomi-chan! Wait up!"<p>

As the pinkette turned around to the sound of the voice, Hikari nearly bumped into her. Tsubomi managed to stabilize herself and the girl, and raised an eyebrow as the blonde took a moment to regain her composure once again. Her breathing was heavy as she bent over to get her breathing evenly: it was very likely she'd been running around to find Tsubomi.

"I've been… wanting… to talk to you!" she said in between breaths, her hands on her knees and still buckling over with rapid exhales.

"What's up, Hikari-senpai?" Tsubomi asked, curious. She had no idea: Hikari and she never really talked much, except for the obvious chit-chat once in a little while. But somewhere, deep down, her mind had a vague assumption that it had to do something with Yaya. She didn't know why, but she just knew it had to be about her.

"Do you have… any idea where… Yaya-chan is?"

"No," the smaller girl frowned, "why would I?"

Hikari took one last deep breath and straightened herself again, swiping the blonde, curly locks out of her face, her blue eyes ever so confused and innocent. She fixed her uniform for a bit and then put a finger to her chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Well, you guys hang around a lot, right? So I thought you might've known where she is at."

Tsubomi cast a weird glance at Hikari, but felt her stomach knot together at the same time. They hung out a lot? It was more than true, they'd been together quite a lot since they had met each other at choir practice, but Tsubomi didn't know if that was some kind of signal or just plain coincidence. She just liked to be around Yaya.

"You know," Hikari continued, "Yaya's been really like herself again these last few days, and I'm starting to think you might be the cause."

"W-what? Why'd you think so?" Tsubomi stuttered, taken aback for a moment. She had to admit, Yaya did seem happy lately. But then again, she never knew her differently. Tsubomi didn't know any other Yaya than the wicked, exuberant Yaya she knew now. Sure, Hikari had once told her about what had happened between them, and therefore she knew of the depression Yaya once had (or was still having, Hikari wasn't sure), but she'd never experienced it firsthand. But, hearing from Hikari that she was going back to her normal, old self again, seemed like a _big _deal.

"Oh, I don't know, she just seems so… relaxed around you. I see her eyes drifting off towards you during lunch and then she tries to hide her smile. She wants to hang out with you a lot and she talks a lot about you, too." the blonde answered.

For a fleeting moment, Tsubomi was rendered utterly speechless. Her stomach made an uneasy yet pleasant lurch, and she just stood there, staring at Hikari.

"B-but I- what? Why?" she managed to stammer, feeling a huge blush creep its way up her cheeks. No matter how hard she tried, the sudden, somewhat pleasant numbness in her mind wouldn't go away. Something about Hikari's words had made her heart skip a beat.

_It couldn't be, right? _Tsubomi thought. Why was she feeling like this in the first place? This shouldn't be making such an impact. Yet, she wondered why the hell it did. Was she feeling the same, and just hiding it? Or was this all some weird affection for a new friend?

"I think she likes you." Hikari winked, an innocent smile playing on her lips, "I know Yaya's a bit dense, but I really believe you could be her ticket to happiness." and with that said, the blonde simply waved goodbye and walked off, leaving poor Tsubomi all lost in her scrambled thoughts.  
>=====<p>

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>The last few drops of rain fell down from the gray sky, the clouds slowly making way for a weak bit of sunlight, making the water on the leaves and branches of trees shine. Once in a while, a soft breeze rustled the trees, making the rain drip down onto the grass. It was still relatively cold outside, but that didn't stop a particular raven-haired girl from taking a walk.<p>

Yaya liked taking walks. The movement and the fresh air would always clear her mind from senseless questions and thoughts. She could really _think _when simply strolling around. And as she was walking down the lane to nowhere in particular, she once again acknowledged the fact that her mind kept hopping back to Tsubomi, and not knowing why. She kicked a rock on the lane out of the way and frowned. Who was she trying to kid, she did know why. She just didn't want to believe it.

Sighing, she looked up at the cloudy sky, deeply in thoughts. Was she really falling for Tsubomi? If so, how could it be that was falling for her so quickly? Yes, she believed in love at first sight but it wasn't as if that had happened between them. She would've noticed that. But then again, she couldn't deny the affection that kept growing for the smaller girl. Even though her attitude and snarky comments were off sometimes, Yaya saw a really sweet, adorable person in Tsubomi. That moment out in the rain yesterday only approved of her feelings. But she just didn't understand _why. _Why she had started feeling like this, how the hell it had all happened so fast and unexpected.

It wasn't like she didn't like it. If anything, she'd want someone who could make her feel like her old self again. And to be honest, she knew Tsubomi did that to her. She just didn't know if she was ready for it, to take that risk once again. Yaya grimaced. Things had gone wrong once. Was she able to try it again and see what would happen this time?

Yaya rubbed her temples. Every time she was on a good track, feeling good again, stuff like this would happen. _Every damn time. _And she didn't know whether or not to take the gamble with Tsubomi. She didn't know if Tsubomi would be feeling the same, there were certain signs, but not obvious enough. Once again, Yaya was at loss what to do.

Taking a deep breath and feeling the fresh air course through her body, she decided to plainly investigate. To observe, inquire and see what would happen. There would be no need to haste things if they moved out of their own. And if they didn't, they would need a little help.

She looked down from the sky again, content with her little plan, and was more than surprised to see the object of her affection walking towards her, hands stuffed in her pockets and face down. Tsubomi's eyes were covered by her pink hair and they seemed dark and broody, and it didn't look like she would even notice Yaya. The latter however, grinned widely upon that fact and promptly decided to take a little sprint towards the youngster.

With quite a speed, Yaya crashed into Tsubomi. But the small pinkette was so surprised that she wasn't able to steady all the weight and force at once, causing them both to topple over. Tsubomi only yelped as Yaya sang out her name.

"Tsu-bo-mi-chan~!"

"Y-Yaya- _baka! _What the-" Tsubomi began as they hit the ground hard, her eyes dashing all over the place to analyze the situation. Once she'd acknowledged that she was on the ground with Yaya sitting on top of her, her whole face went red as a beet and she couldn't do more than stutter.

"Oh my, it seems my Tsubomi-chan is quite dazzled. Look at you, all blushing." Yaya teased, a huge Cheshire grin spread wide across her face. It felt as if her insides were throwing a party and her heart was doing somersaults. She couldn't even begin to deny it now. She liked the other girl.

Tsubomi, however, was still rendered speechless, seemingly having turned into a senseless mess of blushes. All she felt was Yaya's delicate weight on top of her and how _good_it actually felt. Her amber eyes travelled to those of the elder girl on top of her lap, seeing a twinkle that made her stomach knot together with excitement, making her stutter even more.

"Wow, speechless, even. I'm flattered." Yaya added with a smirk.

Beneath her, Tsubomi started to get her senses back slowly. "Y-you're ridiculous, you know that? You can't just, just pounce on me like that, you _b-baka!_"

"For the record, I can. I just did."

Tsubomi didn't even respond to that, she just glared daggers at the girl on top of her. Her blush still wasn't fading, and it felt as if her heart would jump out of her chest at any minute. What was up with her? She couldn't breathe, she couldn't even think. But, she couldn't _like_this… right? "C-could you just get off me now?"

"I could. I'm not sure if I want to though." the black-haired girl replied, winking at Tsubomi and bending over to lean in close to her face. Close enough to see all the different colours in the eyes of the younger Spican, to see the how her pupils had widened when she had gotten in such close proximity to her face; even close enough to see the little freckles on her nose. And then suddenly, with all the subtlety of a speeding train, that feeling hit her again. That enormously overwhelming feeling of affection for the younger girl she was sitting on top of on the middle of the road in the cold outside air. Yaya gasped, getting lost in the other girls' eyes for a moment. That feeling that she needed to suppress so badly, or otherwise she would've kissed Tsubomi on the spot.

"J-just get off me, okay!" the latter nearly shouted from underneath her, abruptly pulling Yaya back into reality. The pinkette, on the other hand, was having a really hard time trying not to melt away under the touch and closeness of the noir-haired girl, trying not to turn into a puddle of nonsensical feelings and blushes.

"Well, alrighty, but only because you asked so sweetly." Yaya grinned, finally getting off of the younger Spican, offering a hand to help her get up. Tsubomi huffed and looked away, but took her hand with a beet-red face anyway.

"You're lucky I didn't hurt myself, you idiot. _What_ were you _thinking _anyways?" the roseate-haired girl exclaimed, dusting off her clothes, "'Oh, there's Tsubomi-chan. Hmm, maybe I should scare the living crap out of her and, I don't know, be a jerk?'"

"Aw, you know I don't live to scare you, kiddo. I just wanted to surprise you, that's all. And you and I both know, that if you did in fact got hurt, I would've taken care of you." the older girl replied, smirking as she pronounced the last few words seductively, wrapping her arm around Tsubomi's waist for good measure.

"Yeah, right. As if you'd even care."

"Come on now, just because you're such an uptight little girl that sometimes annoys me, doesn't mean that I don't care about you! As a matter of fact, I care a lot." Yaya said in all honesty, pressing Tsubomi a little closer to herself. _Maybe a bit too much._

Tsubomi just huffed, but didn't push Yaya away. In fact, she liked the way the other girl was close to her, she liked the way Yaya's arm just seemed to mold around her. To be honest, she liked everything that had to do with the girl beside her right now. And no matter how hard she tried to deny it, the reason of it was getting more and more obvious.

"Hey, you know what," the raven-haired girl began with a grin, interrupting Tsubomi's thoughts for a while, "I even care so much about you, and your little musical star-career, how about we go and practice our lines right now?"

"Little star- what? Why do you want to do that anyway?"

Yaya shrugged, deciding to tell her the truth. If she wanted to go for this, she'd better do it good rather than do nothing and regret it. And if there was anything she didn't want to regret was missing another chance at love. Never again. "I don't know. Why, is it so wrong that I want to spend time with my Tsubomi-chan?" she grinned.

"I-I guess not."

"Good. Let's go then." Yaya said. She took a hold of Tsubomi's hand, the feeling the warm and delicate skin against her own intensely nice. Intertwining their fingers, she only smirked as she pulled the younger girl along under loud protest.  
>=====<p>

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>Yaya was torn between being serious or fooling Tsubomi. They were practicing their lines back in Yaya's dorm room, and they had arrived at the oh so famous balcony scene once again. It was going pretty well so far, the interaction between them was nice and Yaya felt at ease. But, once again, she didn't know if she should over-exaggerate the scene like last time, or not. Pushing the situation wasn't what she wanted too: she'd learned the hard way that forcing people into things they did not want to do was a terrible thing to do.<p>

They stood facing each other, scripts in hand. Just now, Yaya noticed that there wasn't an awful lot of space between them like yesterday. She was amazed at the speed of their growing friendship.

But, she couldn't hesitate long because Tsubomi was waiting, and with every second that passed, her expression grew more questioning. Yaya grimaced. She wasn't good on deciding on short notice.

"…You know what, let's take a break. We've been on this for hours." she then finally said, proceeding to throw her script on the bed and flop down beside it. Yaya smiled at Tsubomi who stood there a little helplessly before patting the place next to her on the sheets. The lilac-haired girl bit her lip slightly before climbing on top of the bed too, placing herself next to Yaya.

"You've been awfully quiet, Tsubomi-chan. Something wrong?"

"No… no I just don't know what to talk about, to be honest." the younger Spican replied a little hesitantly, shrugging while casting her eyes away from Yaya. She fidgeted with the hem of her sweater, feeling awkward. It was true; she didn't know what to do with herself around Yaya. Even if they'd become quite close in a short time, there was a tension between them. Whether it was sexual, which sent Tsubomi's heart reeling, or just something else, it was there alright.

"Aww, am I that difficult to talk to? You know you can tell me anything~." Yaya grinned, giving Tsubomi a soft shove. The latter smiled, but got in defense mode at the same time.

"Yeah, you are difficult to talk to, as a matter of fact," she began, rolling her eyes and making Yaya grin even wider when she went on, "I mean, imagine trying to talk to someone who's only replying with weird comments and sexual innuendos to whatever you say."

"Pfsh. You know you like my sexy talk." the raven-haired girl said, chuckling lightly as a blush appeared on Tsubomi's face, who was making an adorable face.

"How would you know? It's not like you've ever used it in a _proper _situation." Tsubomi commented, but instantly regretting what she had said, her mind flashing briefly to Hikari. She dared to gaze at the girl for a moment and was glad to see that nothing on Yaya's face had changed, not even the mysterious twinkle in her eyes that had been there since this afternoon.

"Oh, I'm sorry, miss I've-never-kissed-in-forever, that I don't meet up to your high standards."

"What! You miserable piece of-" Tsubomi began, practically fuming with anger, which was only fueled whenever she looked at that smirk that was plastered across Yaya's face, "Alright, alright, you tell me, when have _you_ used your _'sexy talk'_ then?" she sneered on, getting up from her sitting position, giving the most lethal gaze she could muster to the girl next to her. _What a mood-killer._Why'd she have to ruin everything when they got along well, for once. Why the endless teases and squabbles? Tsubomi grimaced, waiting for Yaya to answer, her anger growing with every second. Deep down, she knew she was over-reacting, but she was beyond calming down now. She wondered how she could even like this girl in the first place. Tsubomi never liked people who were so full of themselves. Hikari was right, Yaya was dense.

"Not too long ago." Yaya smirked.

"Really now. Would you be so kind to explain whatever the hell you did?"

"I could show you." Yaya said in a devious tone, and before she even knew what she was doing, she found herself very close to Tsubomi's face again. It was as if her hands traveled on their own accord, snaking their way to the small of the other girls' back and side of her neck, pulling her in a little closer, their foreheads touching. Yaya knew damn well that this was way out of her league and that they were far from being able to do this, but her feelings were too strong at this point.

She scooted a little closer to Tsubomi, who was only gasping and blushing furiously. "You see," Yaya began with a whisper, "The thing is to get really, really close, without really _doing _anything."

"And then," she paused to smile a little, feeling Tsubomi's breath coming out in warm huffs against her own lips, sending her pulse up a notch, "You just tease them a little bit, with sweet words or sweet actions… up to you to decide, Tsubomi-chan."

But Tsubomi-_chan _was far from answering. Hell, she even had trouble breathing. She felt shivers going up and down her spine whenever one of Yaya's hands moved on her body, her heart beating so loud and fast that she was scared it would stop working at all. Not to mention the seductive purr that Yaya seemed to elicit whenever she whispered that had nearly shut down her brain.

"Once again, you're awfully quiet." a soft chuckle from Yaya, who inhaled a shaky breath and practically crawled onto Tsubomi's lap now, feeling the intense heat that the youngster actually was emitting. In the back of her mind flashed a blurry, quick recollection of the last time she'd forced this upon someone, upon Hikari, but she felt like things were different now. If she could just get some response out of the pinkette, all would be fine.

"I-I'm not-" Tsubomi stammered, the rest fading away in an inaudible gasp when Yaya's hand moved from her back to her belly. Her face felt red-hot, her body trembling.

And then, before she could've seen it coming, she felt the softness of Yaya's lips pressed against her own. On instant, a jolt went through her whole body, as if her nerve ends were on fire. She didn't need a moment of recollection; she just wrapped her arms around the black-haired girl's neck and pulled her in closer, ignoring the simple need for air. Tsubomi couldn't think anymore, couldn't feel anything but this desire and euphoria though her emotions were a total mess at this moment. It was as if her she was now acting on sheer instinct.

Yaya broke the kiss for a moment, wrapping the pinkette more firmly in her arms and allowing herself to look into her honey eyes for a second before starting a second kiss, more fierce and passionate this time. Tsubomi let out a gasp, shivering, but parted shortly after, and immense feeling of panic now racing through her veins.

Her eyes were wide open, swimming in desire but confusion lingered behind them also. Yaya's heart tightened at the sight. _Not again. _Anything but this again.

"I-I- I need to g-go." Tsubomi said weakly, feeling the aftershock of the kiss suddenly dawning in on herself. Her feelings tumbled over each other into a senseless mess. _What did she do? _Her eyes flashed around nervously, scared, and she pushed herself off of Yaya and scrambled for the door, "I'm… I'm sorry."

The door slammed shut and Yaya just sat there, not moving, not responding. Just a stoic creature at that moment. She felt tears prickling in her eyes but she blinked them away, not giving into the feeling. Yaya took a shaky breath and proceeded to get under the blankets, curling up into a ball. Even though she just knew Tsubomi had liked it, she didn't feel comfortable. The look in the roseate-haired girls' eyes. What if she'd hurt her? What if she'd hate her now? Slowly moving her hand up, she touched her lips and still felt the touch of Tsubomi's lips against it. She put a hand on her chest, too, and she still felt her heart jumping. It was all so obvious.

_Then again,_ _why was she always the one to ruin things?  
>=====<em>

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><strong>An: this took longer to write than I thought it would take D: I'm sorry for the somewhat late update guys, but I got a little stuck on this chapter. Things wouldn't really flow, wouldn't really fit together smoothly no matter how I wrote it down… but I'm quite satisfied with how it is now (:**

**So, a little drama comes around the corner? Who knows, who knows, find out in the next chapter! And please, tell me what you guys think! Read&Review if you'd be nice! :3  
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>Disclaimer: Strawberry Panic! belongs to their respective creators.<br>**_=====


	6. Ch 6: An Example of Wanting to Fall

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><strong>Chapter Six<br>**=====

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><strong>An Example of Wanting to Fall in Love<br>**=====

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>Sunlight slowly made its way through the orange curtains and window, dipping Tsubomi's dorm room in honey- and amber-shaded colours. The wind rustled the blinds and the small girl that inhabited the room stirred under the covers. Some birds were singing outside, but the only sound inside of the room was Tsubomi's regular, deep breathing, her chest moving up and down with the rhythm. Tsubomi stirred again, tossing and turning all of the sudden, feeling her body heat up uncomfortably.<p>

Then, her eyes opened agonizingly slow and she groaned, turning around in bed, pressing her head into the pillow to cast out the light. She peeked at her alarm clock with one eye, reading the big red digits _7:03_. The pinkette moaned again, grogginess washing over her as she realized classes started in only two hours. Kicking the blankets away from her, a cold breeze washed over her and she staggered over to the window, which, to her utter surprise, was fully opened.

Tsubomi, still overcome with sleep as she was, shivered from cold as she closed the window, trying her very best to remember why in the world it had been open. She shuffled back to her bed to grab the sweater that was draped on it, yawning widely as she put it on. What the hell had she been up to last night to open the window _that _damn far?

And then, with the impact of a sledgehammer, the events from last night came back to her mind, the images vivid as if she was right there, doing it over again. Tsubomi let out a gasp, recalling every single thing, every little detail. The way Yaya's eyes had glimmered so mysteriously, how she had felt so euphoric; everything. It was almost as if she felt Yaya's lips against her own again, and she found herself touching her own mouth for a second, her hand trembling slightly. But, most of all, she was stunned at the way Yaya had broke down all her walls she always built around herself with such ease. Just crumbled them to little pieces, like it was nothing, revealing her desiring heart. If anything, Tsubomi liked her walls. She'd learned to have them around a lot, never letting anyone in or get close, so they just got higher and higher every year. She thought no one would be able to climb over them or knock them down but Yaya had proven her wrong. To the point where it became inevitable that she, in fact, was falling for the other girl. There was no other way someone could get to her so easily. And no one had gotten this close before.

Tsubomi practically rolled back into bed, still shivering. She didn't know whether it was from the cold or from the thoughts that were so suddenly erupting from her mind.

The pinkette didn't like people coming too close, as close as Yaya had just gotten. It wasn't as if she didn't like it, but she'd been disappointed so many times. People had hurt her enough already, had talked around her back too much. So she thought it was best to keep a reasonable distance until things would eventually fall into place. Tsubomi knew that it wasn't the best ways to bind with people, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't help it that every time she looked into the mirror she saw this hidden fire burning in her eyes, waiting for her true spirit to free from herself, and help her in the progress, but that it just wouldn't get past the borders that she herself had set out. She couldn't help it that it wouldn't go past the walls that were sky-high.

But yesterday, she knew some of that fire had gone from her, escaped. She'd felt alive, loved, desired. She'd followed her heart for once. But she wondered; if that was what she'd always wanted, why did she feel this regret, this guilt? Like she had lied to Yaya.

She didn't like this feeling. She'd been feeling it ever since she ran out on Yaya last night. Closing her eyes, Tsubomi remembered stalking through the hallways, over thinking everything. Once she'd gotten to her room, she went straight to bed, trying to abandon all the feelings and questions that popped up, but lay awake for God knows how long before getting out again. She remembered thinking about Yaya, and how stupid she was for letting her behind after this. Making her think she didn't want her, leaving her to believe that she hated her, just like Hikari once did. Yes, she loathed herself for walking away, but it was the best thing to do at that moment. Tsubomi had felt scared, as if she was standing on a cliff, ready to jump down but not knowing what lay beneath. And she wasn't ready yet for a leap of faith, just not yet. Hell, she wasn't even certain of her feelings for Yaya, or if the elder Spican girl was also really meaning all that she did and said to her.

_I mean, she must, right? _the roseate-haired girl pondered, for a moment very afraid that Yaya had been fooling her all along. She didn't think of Yaya as a girl to randomly flirt with every person that appealed to her, but then again, who was she to say she knew Yaya well enough to say that? She knew practically nothing at all. No personal details, no cute little habits to find adorable, no family stories, no nothing. It wasn't as if she believed that those things made somebody fall for a person, but she did value getting to know someone before doing that exact thing. And it was becoming more and more likely that she was falling for Yaya, shoving away all her principles.

But more than anything, she wanted someone who could do just that. Someone who could do such things and somehow release the person she wanted to be. Tsubomi didn't want to have such a hard exterior all of the time, didn't want to put up that awful facade anymore. Not anymore.

Turning around in bed, Tsubomi threw a glance at the alarm clock again, but not really registering the time that it told. She sighed, a sad frown spread across her forehead. Maybe it was best if she called in sick today.  
>=====<p>

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>"Tsubomi-chan?"<p>

A quick knock on the door followed not too long after, making the pinkette in question growl and turn around in bed, squeezing her eyes shut._ Go away._

"Come on, I know you're in here."

"..." the person behind the door let out a soft sigh, "Tsubomi, please stop ignoring me. Or wake up... either one, I don't know what you're doing in there, I don't have x-ray vision you know. Look, I know you don't want to talk to me, but at least let me know you're listening to what I say. Please?"

Slowly but surely, the voice dawned in on Tsubomi, and she recognized it with a shock, sending her heart into overdrive. Getting up quickly, she nearly jumped to her desk, viciously looking around for a scrap of paper and a pen, trying to be as quick as possible. Once she'd found one, she quickly scribbled down the words _'what do you want?'_, almost ran back to the other side of the room and then slid it underneath the bottom crack of the wooden door. She then jumped back into bed, pulling her knees up to her chin, embracing her legs.

"Ah, clever." she heard Yaya chuckle lightly, "Alright. So, um, about last night... I- I want to say I'm sorry. I really am, Tsubomi. I never meant to hurt you. You know that, don't you? It's just that... dammit, I just want you to know that I didn't just kiss you because I felt like it. I kissed you b-because I like you. I think I like you a lot, actually."

Tsubomi's pulse would've went up another notch if it were physically possible. As the words tentatively registered, she felt some huge relief. To know she was not a simple replacement, or a waste of time or just a meaningless flirt. To know she wasn't being used. She found herself shuffling closer to the door, waiting for Yaya to continue.

A short pause, followed by a sigh. "What I'm trying to say... is that I'd really want you to think about this. Just, consider it for a minute. Please think because I know you didn't just kiss me back without any reason to do so. I know you didn't simply liked it. I know you felt _something._"

The pinkette's heart dropped, amazed at Yaya's sense of actually analyzing situations. Though Hikari had said the raven-haired girl was dense, Tsubomi started to believe otherwise. She wasn't dense, she just doesn't give a damn about some things. But when she did, she could be so clever, so seeing through everything. Tsubomi had hid her feelings, but Yaya had figured them out alright. Tsubomi had to suppress the urge to storm outside into the older girl's arms. But she knew that would be foolish, her sane mind stopped her from doing what she was so scared of.

"...And if you don't, then I'm really sorry."  
>=====<p>

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>It was already late in the afternoon, the sun was slowly setting, casting long shadows. A warm wind slowly drifted through the window in Tsubomi's room, carrying the scent of grass and rainfall. That typical summer air. It was a calming smell, but not for the little pinkette, who paced around in her room for the umpteenth time, a frown spread across her features.<p>

Yaya's words just didn't leave her head. They just wouldn't budge, not matter how hard she tried to forget them, like they were etched into her mind. Tsubomi bit her lip as she fought the urge to go outside of her room, just to check if the coal-haired girl was still there. She hadn't really heard her leaving altogether. For a moment, Tsubomi stood still, doubting if she should just open the goddamned door and see for herself. But then she furiously shook her head, slapping herself mentally. Of course she wasn't going to be there, _you idiot. _She'd said what she wanted to say, what would be the point of waiting for her?

Tsubomi's mind reeled back again, back to a random thing Yaya had once said or done. For some reason she was remembering everything, trying to make the puzzle complete. And the more she analyzed everything, the more it seemed to make sense. The teases, the hugs. Her own reactions even. Her blushes, her scolding and scoffing on Yaya, her stutters. The pinkette frowned; had she really been that obvious? Had _Yaya _really been that obvious? But then again, reading people wasn't what she did best. The only person she was able to see through well enough was herself, though it seemed that she'd just failed it.

And then suddenly, a name popped up into Tsubomi's head. Chikaru-sama. The small girl stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes brightening up. If there was one person around who could see through everyone and everything, it was the black-haired beauty from Lu Rim.

Dashing for her closet, she quickly checked herself in the mirror, decided that she looked good enough and then stormed to the door, but halted right in front of it. The picture of Yaya sitting against the door flashed through her mind. Tsubomi gulped, cautiously opening the door. Peeking through the chink, she noted that it was all clear. As she walked, she quickly checked her watch. She had about an hour before dinner started. If she was planning to show up, that was.  
>=====<p>

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>After searching for forever and asking a whole lot of people where Chikaru's room was at, Tsubomi now faced the door, biting her lower lip. She didn't like to narrate her feelings and problems to people. Even if it was Chikaru, who was so famous for helping dozens of girls lift their chin up again, she wasn't so sure anymore. Fidgeting with the hem of her sweater, she knocked on the door.<p>

"It's open." a sweet voice sounded from the inside, and Tsubomi hesitantly opened it, stepping into the oh so known dorm room. She took a quick look around before fixing her eyes upon Chikaru, who was quietly reading a book. The Lu Rim's girls eyes flickered up from the piece of literature. She swiftly put it away and a smile appeared on her face.

"Tsubomi-chan, I can well say I'm surprised to see you here. What can I do for you?"

"I-I um, was wondering if you could... you know, help me?" Tsubomi began, feeling her cheeks go bright red under the piercing gaze of the raven-haired young woman. She looked down at her feet, feeling a little bit embarrassed.

"Of course, but you'd have to tell me what's wrong first." Chikaru replied with a small smile, her voice ever so reassuring and sweet. Looking up again, the pinkette stood a little helplessly in the middle of the room, still fidgeting with her sweater. She nodded at the Lu Rim student and took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the awkward feeling that washed over her. She didn't need to feel so weirded out. Chikaru was known for loving to help people.

"Well, you see.. y-you know Yaya-senpai, don't you?" Tsubomi began, "She just confessed to me that she likes me, and I'm not r-really sure what to do."

"I see." was Chikaru's plain answer, a thoughtful shimmer now in her brown eyes. The girl put her finger to her lips in a thoughtful manner, "So, tell me, do you have feelings for her too, or is she left with unrequited love?"

"I don't really know... I-I know I feel something for her, but I don't know exactly what. I don't know if it's love. I mean, I do love what she does to me. You know? She makes me feel like... me. Even though she annoys me, even though I can be so angry because of her, one gaze of her eyes or one simple touch and I just calm down again... I don't know what it is that she does, but.." Tsubomi found herself trailing off towards the end, inaudibly gasping at how easily she blabbered that out. But, she was even more stunned by the rapid confirmation of her feelings, how her heart had skipped a beat when she'd talked about Yaya like that.

"Ah yes, I understand what you mean. But, if that's really the case, then why don't you know what to do? Because, I dare say, it's quite obvious you like her too." Chikaru asked with a wink.

"Because I'm scared. I'm afraid of what I feel... I-I've never had anyone make me feel like this. I just don't know how to deal with it. I'm not sure if I like her, too, and I don't want to take the risk with her, because I really value Yaya-senpai's friendship."

"I see, I see," Chikaru said again, "Well, to be honest, if I were you I wouldn't take it too quickly. But then again, it's not for me to decide. Do what you think is best for you. Don't think about Yaya's feelings too much for now, I'm sure she'll be there waiting for you."

Tsubomi nodded after a while, a sad frown plastered on her face as she thanked Chikaru, who waved it off like it was nothing and walked away. She stalked through the corridors, back to her own room. Once she'd gotten there she closed the door behind her and absentmindedly stripped off all her clothes, throwing them on her bed. The roseate-haired girl slumped into the bathroom and turned on the tap, relaxing once the hot water poured down her body. Steam slowly filled the room as Tsubomi's thoughts wandered off once again. She felt a little defeated; the pinkette thought Chikaru would've given her some kind of epiphany, but all that she'd gotten in return were cryptic messages. Though the Lu Rim queen had said that Yaya would be waiting. Would that mean that Yaya was really falling in love with her? That it was just more than a crush. More than anything, Tsubomi wanted it to be different. All she'd do was leave Yaya all by herself in the end, rejecting her like Hikari had once done. Yaya was pretty resilient, but would the girl be able to survive a second heartbreak?

But then again, a little voice said to her that she did want Yaya. That she wanted to save her from another depression. And she knew, that that little voice was growing. It had been becoming stronger and stronger, drowning out the her ratio. Because of course she knew that she was in love with Yaya, or at least beginning to fall for the older Spican. She just didn't want to believe it.

Tsubomi sighed and turned off the shower, stepping out into the cold bathroom. She shivered as she quickly wrapped a towel around her hair and slipped into some warm clothes. The amber-eyed girl skipped back to her room, grabbing her script to try and distract her thoughts with. Getting into a comfortable position on the bed, Tsubomi carefully read her lines, mouthing the words and trying to remember every single thing. She then looked up to the ceiling and repeated the line she'd read in her head to check if she could recall it.

But even though she concentrated really hard, she couldn't help but to idly wonder about what Yaya was doing at this exact moment. Was she thinking of her as well?  
>=====<p>

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><strong>An: hmm hmm, I don't know what to think of this. I think I like how it came out, but on the other hand, I'm not really sure... Can't say I've gotten Tsubomi well in character in this chapter. Anyways, at least I hope that you guys like it more than I do! =D**

**As for the chapter, it's a review on Tsubomi's thoughts about Yaya and what to do (no shit, Sherlock). BUT, I was thinking the other day, since this chapter is written in our little pinkette's POV, next chapter is going to be Yaya's POV entirely. So we get a good view on how either of them is thinking :3 I think it's going to fit in really nicely before the great finale chapter! I've yet to see if I can do it, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be fine. Tee-hee.**

**But, enough ranting, I'll be updating as soon as I can! Read&Review please, the reviews I've gotten so far are great. I really like feedback, gives me the strength to write more! =D  
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><em><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!<br>**_=====


	7. Ch 7: She'll Keep Waiting

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><strong>Chapter Seven<br>**=====

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>An: Hai thar~ As you might (or might not) have read in the last author's comment, this is a retake of chapter six, but completely in Yaya's POV. So you might notice the exact same dialogue and all, and before you start to worry, don't! Tee-hee, it's supposed to be this way. I'm quite happy with the way it worked out, but you see for yourselves!**

**Hope you like it.  
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><strong>She'll Keep Waiting<br>**=====

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>"Yaya-chan? Wake up, you're gonna be late." a soft, sweet voice awakened Yaya from her restless, light slumber and she squeezed her eyes shut against the light that drowned the room. For a second, the raven-haired girl believed it was Tsubomi waking her up, and she smiled groggily as she looked up, but only to find the face of Hikari staring back at her. Her face dropped on instant.<p>

"Alright, alright, five more minutes." Yaya replied as she buried her face into her pillow again, her eyes getting watery because of the lack of sleep. She figured she must be looking like a zombie, and with the thought of facing Tsubomi while looking that horrible, she jumped out of bed and staggered to the bathroom, clutching her arms to keep the warmth from escaping. Lazily looking into the mirror above the sink, the brown-haired girl nearly scared herself to death. Taking a step closer, she narrowed her eyes at her reflection and gauged the damage. Her hair looked about like some sort of explosive went off in it, but the rest was pretty okay. Except for her eyes. Yaya frowned as she took another closer look. Red and puffy. But above all, dull. And sad. Hurt. Afraid and guilty.

Yaya sighed as she turned on the water tap and splashed some water in her face, trying to get rid of all the thoughts that washed over her again. She'd even dreamt of Tsubomi. How much worse could it get? Dreamt about the girl she just wasted everything on.

She grabbed a brush and started the terrifyingly painful job of getting her hair untangled, while her thoughts drifted off on their own accord. Well, it's not like they had ever left her alone, they had kept bothering her until she'd finally fallen asleep, miserable and guilty as she felt. She had known damn well that she wasn't in any state to kiss the girl, and yet there she was, letting her lust and feelings take the best of her once again. Just like she'd predicted, she had ruined it all again. And the guilt was already eating away at her, her stomach knotting tightly together if she only _thought _about the way Tsubomi had looked at her last night, not to mention the apology she'd whispered, as if it were all her fault. The girl deserved to know that it wasn't. It was any but hers. Yaya was the one that had to apologize, and how she wished she could. But of all the feelings that were among her, the one that bothered her the most was that Tsubomi probably didn't know what she meant with that kiss. That the pinkette would just think that it was nothing, that she was just a second choice. Oh, how Yaya wanted to let her know that she wasn't. She'd never been. Of all people, Tsubomi had been the one to get her heart mended. Over all this time, the roseate-haired girl had just popped into her life and hit her with that feeling of love again, not too subtly to say the least. Just like that. Yaya had only dreamed of such things before.

Another sigh escaped Yaya's throat as she swayed back into her room to get dressed. She furiously hoped that the little pinkette would run into her at some point of the day, she really wanted to get things talked through. This just wouldn't work, Tsubomi deserved to know everything.  
>=====<p>

=====  
>Putting up the best fake grin she could muster, Yaya walked into the cafeteria with confidence (at least, she hoped she did), her eyes dashing all over the place in an attempt to spot anything that even looked a bit like Tsubomi. But after she'd checked the whole room twice, she grimaced as she didn't see the cute face, nor the lovely amber eyes anywhere.<p>

She flopped down in the nearest free cubicle and stared out of the window, watching the left over raindrops slowly trickle down the windows, idly wondering if it would rain again today.

Yaya closed her eyes for a second, exhaling slowly. She'd hoped that by lunchtime, Tsubomi would've been here. She hadn't ran into her at breakfast, which wasn't such a great deal, but the only other moments that were left were now dinner and choir practice. Chances were getting slimmer and slimmer, and the raven-haired Spican was becoming a little anxious. _What if she never wants to see me again?_

But then again, why did Tsubomi run out on her in the first place? It made her feel so insecure, so guilty. She never meant to do any harm to her. But, Yaya was sure that, judging from the youngster's very obvious reaction last night, the pinkette must've felt something. Anything. The way she'd been pulling her in closer and closer, asking for more with no words; that's not just some natural reaction when someone kisses you like that. Not when you aren't into somebody. And Yaya knew that if Tsubomi hadn't felt anything, that the roseate-haired girl wouldn't have kissed her back. Even Yaya could tell that Tsubomi was a shy girl alright, she wouldn't act so brash and bold in such a situation. The coal-haired girl wasn't even sure if she had been her first kiss or not. On that thought alone Yaya's heart started fluttering, and she cursed herself for it.

"Yaya, fancy seeing you here." Yaya snapped out of her thoughts and looked to the sound of the soft voice to see no other but Chikaru joining her in the cubicle, sliding into the seat across from her.

"Oh, hey Chikaru-sama."

"Please, Yaya-chan, how many times have I told you to call me Chikaru-chan? Or anything else, just drop the sama." the Lu Rim president smiled as Yaya nodded, "So, anyway, I wanted to ask you how the progression of the play is going. You studying your lines?"

Yaya bit her lower lip for a second, her eyes shimmering with doubt, "...Yeah, I suppose? It's going quite okay, though I haven't really done as much as I should've." she looked up as she cast an apologetic glance at Chikaru, but she only smiled as the latter's eyes twinkled with mysteriousness. The black-haired young woman folded her hands and slightly leaned in, arms resting on the table.

"I see. That's okay. But why haven't you?"

"Well, you know-" Yaya let out an exhausted sigh, dropping her shoulders and shifting her gaze towards the window again, "Got a lot on my mind these days."

Chikaru's eyes twinkled knowingly as she leaned in a little closer, trying to make eye-contact with the Spican student across the table. The latter looked back, an uncertain, inquiring frown plastered on her face. Yaya didn't particularly liked the way Chikaru eyes seemed to pierce right through her, like she could gather all the hidden information about her in a second. She knew that the Lu Rim student was known for that skill, but it just gave Yaya the chills.

"Like what? If I may ask?" the Lu Rim queen asked.

"Ah, the ever-present personal issues, I think. The troubles of life, the problems we're all fighting, I don't really know, Chikaru-san. I'm just messed up. Once again." Yaya said after a while, her eyebrows furrowing deeply above her eyes.

Chikaru nodded, "But why's that? Did someone hurt you?"

The raven-haired Spican let out a huff, "No. More like the other way around."

"Would you mind talking about it?"

Yaya remained silent for a while, her expression remote as she followed the patterns the sun made on the window. Would she mind? Would she mind pouring her heart out to her, to tell her everything that bothered her, from her worries to her guilt to her heart-wrenching feeling of recurrence? She didn't know, she didn't like talking about it. It made her feel so vulnerable, so broken down. To nothing, to just another fragile girl. Yaya knew she was a strong girl, and she didn't like being out there, unprotected, ashamed and afraid.

"It's just that," the brown-eyed girl began after some time, feeling her heart drop as she thought of the events again, "She said she was sorry... I can't tell her that there's no need for her to be, because I am the one that hurt her. And I can't tell her how sorry _I_am." Yaya blinked back her tears, scoffing at herself for letting her guard down that much. She was surprised at the intensity of her feelings for Tsubomi, figuring it was a crush, but it seemed that she was really in love.

"Well, maybe you should just go there and tell her. She might not listen, she might not care, but at least you said it. Trust me, it'll feel good to get it off your chest." Chikaru replied simply, smiling reassuringly at Yaya, whose eyebrows were still furrowed deeply above her chocolate eyes.

Slowly but surely, the coal-haired girl nodded, getting confident. Thanking Chikaru, she swiftly stood up and stalked out of the cafeteria, leaving the smiling Lu Rim student behind. Yaya's heart was pumping once again, fed with the idea of maybe facing Tsubomi. She wouldn't even care if the pinkette wouldn't see eye to eye, she could at least show to her that she cared and that she wouldn't just sit there and watch it all smash into pieces.

Yaya had no idea where she was going. She was just walking, blinded by her determination, her feet taking her where to go automatically.

Eventually, she ended up at Tsubomi's dorm room. Blinking a couple of times, the Spican took a deep breath and knocked on the door, too late to realize that she had no idea what to say to the roseate-haired youngster. She swallowed, anxiety racing through her, and when she heard no reply, she just tried again. _Screw what to say, I'll just make it up as I go._

"Tsubomi-chan?"

No answer.

"Come on, I know you're in there."

No answer yet again. Yaya sighed, wanting to walk away already. What was the point if there she wasn't there to listen to what she had to say? But then again, what would be the next moment she would encounter Tsubomi? Two weeks later, at the play? God knows what could happen in between there, God knows what feelings she might develop. Yaya didn't want her to think badly of her for all that time. Not now, not later. So she tried again.

"Tsubomi, please stop ignoring me. Or wake up... either one, I don't know what you're doing in there, I don't have x-ray vision you know. Look, I know you don't want to talk to me, but at least let me know you're listening to what I say. Please?"

With no reply yet again, Yaya grimaced and looked down at her feet. She wondered why she was here in the first place. But then, a small note landed at her shoes. Yaya raised an eyebrow and picked it up, reading the words _'what do you want?' _scribbled across it.

"Ah, clever." Yaya chuckled lightly, stuffing the paper into her pocket, "Alright. So, um, about last night... I- I want to say I'm sorry. I really am, Tsubomi. I never meant to hurt you. You know that, don't you? It's just that... dammit, I just want you to know that I didn't just kiss you because I felt like it. I kissed you b-because I like you. I think I like you a lot, actually."

Surprised at the fluency and rapidness of her words, she paused for a moment. Yaya was never the one to out herself with words. She preferred to speak through her actions. She'd always been more of a do-er, she just had a way of saying stuff with it. Yes, she was flirty and a tease, but that was just one of her ways to show her feelings. But on the other hand, because of that, Yaya was afraid that she would come over as just flirty to Tsubomi as well, while Tsubomi was a whole other case. In fact, the Spican was well aware that Tsubomi might even already be thinking that. But the little pinkette was way more than that. The raven-haired girl sighed.  
><em><br>_"What I'm trying to say... is that I'd really want you to think about this. Just, consider it for a minute. Please think because I know you didn't just kiss me back without any reason to do so. I know you didn't simply liked it. I know you felt _something._"

No reply yet again. Then it just suddenly hit her. _What if she hadn't felt anything?_

Because, who was she to say that Tsubomi felt the same way? Why did she ultimately assume that the pinkette was in love with her too? As well as she had thought it through before, as well as she'd searched arguments for it, even if she knew that the girl had kissed her back, Tsubomi had kept her mouth painstakingly shut at this moment. The tall Spican was confessing to her, which was a big deal, but she had said nor done nothing yet. She hadn't responded except for the stupid note that basically scoffed her off. Yaya felt her stomach knot together tightly and she grimaced, trying to hide her hurt as well as she could. She exhaled shakily.

"...And if you don't, then I'm really sorry."  
>=====<p>

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>Sunlight slowly faded away behind the trees as Yaya stirred in her bed. She was feeling exhausted but couldn't get to sleep. Dinner had been about half an hour ago, and the raven-haired Spican had felt disappointed when she hadn't seen Tsubomi appear. Not even a glimpse. She had been worried because the pinkette wasn't the person to just call in sick, wondering what was up with her to do that today. Worried that she was feeling so bad she couldn't get up. Yaya groaned as she turned around again, feeling the restlessness filling up her nerve system as various images flashed across her mind. She felt queasy and it was getting uncomfortably hot under the blankets.<p>

Kicking them off her, she stood up out of bed and marched over to the window. She pulled aside the curtains and opened the window, feeling the breeze hit her face like a splash of cool water. Her pulse was way higher than it should be, her breathing was rapid but she didn't know why. All she knew that whatever what was going on with her, was because of Tsubomi.

It was like her life suddenly revolved around that little kid. Yaya would've never guessed that one kiss would make such an impact on herself. Imagine the effect it would have had on Tsubomi. The black-haired Spican felt her stomach turn at that thought and quickly exhaled, breathing in new, fresh air. Leaning over the edge of the window, she looked out to the rapidly darkening sky, dawn setting in quickly. Yaya felt her body cool down, felt her uneasiness ebb away. It felt good. Like she hadn't had a care in the world after all.

She had no idea for how long she stood there. Just standing, watching the setting sun make way for the moon and seeing the clouds scoot over to be replaced by hundreds of stars. But in the back of her mind, her thoughts moved back to Tsubomi on their own accord, simply wondering what that adorable girl was doing.  
>=====<p>

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><strong>An: Pffff, it felt like I would never finish this! o-o I got distracted while writing this so many times, it's a miracle I got this posted! Honestly, next time I go on tumblr somebody stop me because it will be the end of this series. xD ...No kidding. ANYWAYS, I'm quite satisfied with this, though I have the feel that it is a little repetitive at some times. But then again, poor Yaya is all confused so it would be logical to have thoughts returning? I don't know, all I know is that I think I did well. I really liked how the POV switch worked out.**

**As for more important news: I will be off to France for two weeks this Saturday. I will bring my laptop but I can't guarantee that I will spend every evening writing. So the next chapter might be a little delayed, at least two weeks. Sorry guys, I'll try to keep writing as much as I can!**

**To stop my yapping, I hope you all liked this and I'll try to make the next update fast. Read&Review please, you'd make me very happy :3  
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><em><strong>Disclaimer: Strawberry Panic! belongs to its respective and awesome creators.<br>**_=====


	8. Ch 8: Friends Or More?

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><strong>Chapter Eight<br>**=====

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>An: Long time no see! I'm sorry guys but I couldn't write a lot when I was in France. I just couldn't do it, I was wayyy too busy with… tanning and… eating! Ehehe. So I wrote about half this chap in France, and the other half when I was back home again. But here it is, finally! I hope you all don't mind the delay too much!**

**So, anyhow, France was awesome! I enjoyed myself though the weather was quite depressing on some days. We started off with great weather! I got to swim and sunbathe (got quite the tan, I'm proud of it!) but in the second week all we got was rain… ): But, even so I've visited countless things! Lots of memorials from D-Day and the Second World War, which were pretty impressive in lots of ways. I've seen the cliffs in Normandy, which are also very cool though I was almost blown off the top of the cliffs because of the heavy wind XD Oh and also, I've bought really cool stuff, like a very huge, medieval sword with lots of decorations and with an awesome sheath, and I've also gotten myself a wand! More specifically, a replica of Harry Potter's wand! (: I was aiming for Hermione's, but they didn't have it at the store ): So I more or less had to settle with Harry's XD Naw, that's not true, I adore it to pieces. I'd even set up a photo shoot with my sister, who bought Ron's wand, and she made some photo manipulations… It was epic.**

**All in all, a very nice holiday indeed. But I'm also glad to be back. Aaaaand, I've gotta stop yapping now, and start the story! Enjoy!  
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><strong>Friends… Or More?<br>**=====

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>It had been a week. A week after… the incident, as Yaya liked to call it, a full week since the latter had last seen Tsubomi, and she'd been getting more and more on edge ever since. She realized that the play was in less than seven days, and she full on realized that she and Tsubomi hadn't practiced lines at all. Not since the kiss. And sure, Yaya knew some of it, and the Spican could remember what she'd studied together with the pinkette, but she just couldn't study her lines anymore. She could memorize it back and forth, but she couldn't exactly get into her role so to say. Not without knowing when exactly her counterpart had to talk, interrupt her or say something vital that would be Yaya's cue to say something back. And that growing pressure, with the increasing feeling of immense guilt like a weight on her shoulders from the incident, was starting to take its toll.<p>

She looked as though the she was awfully tired, which in fact she was. Yaya didn't really want to admit to herself that she was depressed (she knew she wasn't because she'd recall that exact feeling) but she couldn't exactly deny that she was feeling like utter crap.

But Yaya couldn't help but wonder how Tsubomi was feeling. The same? Different? She didn't know if the youngster was either happy now, or sad. She didn't know because Tsubomi had been avoiding her. She wasn't there at breakfast, lunch or dinner, not in her room or any other dorm that Yaya visited in search for her, nor had she been attending choir practices. And Yaya started to seriously worry. It was nothing like Tsubomi to just skip choir. Multiple times, even. Tsubomi used to follow her principles and was such a goodie-two-shoes student, always attending classes, never calling in sick even if she was obviously not feeling well. What was going on in her mind to just shove away all those principles that she held onto so much? Was she even still following all her classes or was she also ditching that?

Yaya frowned as she closed the door to her dorm and walked down the corridors. She was feeling a little jittery. Not just because of the stuff that had been going on, but also because the first, official rehearsal of the play was held today.

As she stalked down the stairs and went through the entrance, the black-haired Spican couldn't help but ask herself what she was going to if Tsubomi was there. _Well of course she's going to be there,_ a voice in the far back of her mind scolded at her, _she's not that careless_. But then again, another part of her worried that she in fact, was that careless. But what was she going to do? Act like it all never happened? Try to pull off the jolly façade and see what would become of it?

The sun shone warmly on her back as she followed the path to Lu Rim. Yaya stuffed her hands in her pockets as she felt at ease for a little while, watching a flock of birds fly over and land in the grass nearby. But the thought kept pressing on her. What on Earth was she going to do?  
>=====<p>

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>Carefully rounding the corner, Yaya scanned the room quickly. Chikaru-sama, Toumori-san, Rokujou-sama, even Shizuma and her horde of fangirls and all sorts of other students, but Tsubomi was again nowhere to be found. Yaya's eyebrows knitted together in a grimace as she entered the room.<p>

"Chikaru-san?" she'd been heading straight to the raven-haired Lu Rim student. She'd been wanting to tell the raven-haired beauty about the whole line-practice issue she had, so she tapped Chikaru on the shoulder, who turned around with a smile, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course, hold on a minute." the young woman replied, clapping in her hands to hush everybody's loud chatting down to a mere low whisper. Once every eye in the room was fixed on her, she started talking. "Welcome, everyone! I'm glad that you all have shown up today, because this very rehearsal will be the last one before the actual play, so you can imagine just how important this is. We're going to practice the whole play at once, have a small pause and then repeat it after I've given my criticism and notes to all of you, so you can improve your play. Are we clear?"

A loud, general 'yes' was shouted across the room, making Chikaru giggle. "Alright. Well, let's all head to your places so we can get started!" Slowly, the mass of students started moving, chattering away loudly once they got the chance, some quickly rehearsing their lines as the makeshift décor and stage was pulled from the corner of the room.

"What is it, Yaya-chan?" Chikaru's velvety voice pulled Yaya back from her observations, but the latter's grimace had only increased during the small speech, her eyebrows now forming almost a straight line on her brow. She couldn't tell Chikaru now. Not when she's just said how important this was for the play, for everyone. She couldn't let her down. This was her thing, her precious play, and who would she be to ruin it all for the Lu Rim president? It was worse enough that Tsubomi wasn't here yet. Not only because Yaya was aching to see her, but also because she had one of the lead roles. She couldn't just disappear here too, could she?

"Oh, never mind," Yaya said as she quickly put on the best smile she could muster, "I was just wondering where Tsubomi-chan's at. I haven't seen her."

She watched Chikaru's eyes flicker across the room for a couple of seconds. "You're right. Well that's odd. I thought Tsubomi-chan was quite the type for punctuality. But I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"If you say so, Chikaru-san."

Yaya walked off, wandering around a little aimlessly, eyes dancing across the various students and business. It wouldn't be of any use for her to quickly look through her script because she knew her lines from the inside out. Neither could she because she was too wound up with anxiety. The coal-haired girl wasn't exactly believing Chikaru. Why would she come now, if she had been avoiding Yaya for so long? Then again, this was something important she couldn't possibly skip. _Could she? _The pressure started building up for Yaya when everything was in order. The small, makeshift stage was in its place, the stagehands were standing behind and on the sides, acting as if they were at the real deal. The students were getting quiet and Chikaru was heading towards the director's seat, script in hand and her faithful minions Remon and Kizuna in pursuit.

Her heart started making flips as she shot a glance towards the door, but it was still closed. Somehow she found herself almost praying that the pinkette would slam open the door any moment. All Yaya wanted was too see that kid again. To know she was okay.

"Is everyone ready? Yaya-san, Tsubomi-san, could you make your way to the stage please?" Chikaru's voice droned into her ears, sounding far away somehow.

"I-I'm afraid Tsubomi-chan hasn't arrived yet…"

"Well, that's not too big of a deal, we can start off without her. The first few scenes aren't involving Juliet yet. I'll make sure someone goes to find her, okay?" Yaya simply nodded as she made her way over to the stage, grabbing a script off the table and opening it on the right page. She found it almost silly how one girl could make her feel so defeated. She wasn't expecting Tsubomi to show up, and yet she let her down. Yaya sighed and plonked herself down on the stage, trying her best to look excited.  
>=====<p>

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>On the other side of Astraea Hill, at the Spica dorms, Tsubomi was still in her bed. Her eyes stared at the opposite wall as she absentmindedly curled her hair around her finger, idly wondering what the hell she was even doing, still being here. The roseate-haired girl knew damn well that the rehearsal was today, and she also realized that they could not begin without her. She'd been jumping out of bed at least a thousand times, cursing herself for her lack of self-discipline lately, but every time she wanted to bash through the door and run off to Lu Rim, fear washed over her, causing her to slump back into bed and let her mind fight with the dilemma again.<p>

Tsubomi didn't know if she wanted to see Yaya yet. She'd been avoiding her a week now, and she felt a little better and could understand her feelings more clearly when the older Spican wasn't around. She'd been feeling weird ever since the kiss, but with every day that passed, she started to miss Yaya more and more. A few times she found herself even running away just in time before the other girl would see her, just so she could catch a glimpse of Yaya herself. Tsubomi knew she'd have to cave in some day, she didn't exactly know how much longer she could pull this off. Especially with the rehearsal today.

So she got out of bed with a huge groan for the umpteenth time, walked to the door and closed her hand around the cold copper handle. She took a deep breath and it took her about two seconds to finally push through and let her heart win the battle this time.

Opening the door, she almost forgot to close it as she quickly made her way to Lu Rim, her lateness hitting her like a brick in the head. How long had she been in her room, deciding?

She raced down the stairs and nearly jumped down the porch, feeling her blood pump and her lungs work on full throttle. She threw a quick glance at the sky that was quickly getting more and more grey. Tsubomi couldn't prevent a small smile from playing on her lips out of pure anxiety and sudden restlessness. She couldn't even begin to think how Yaya would react and how they would get along again, but frankly she didn't even care right now. All that the pinkette was worrying about was how to fix Yaya's broken heart. All that time in her room, alone, without anyone to interrupt or influence her feelings, she could slowly come the conclusion that she in fact had feelings for Yaya. Though she wasn't sure yet what exactly, only that it was there alright.

But yet she wondered what Yaya would still feel for _her_. Would she already have been trying to forget her, erase her from her mind, all because she was hurt yet again? She hadn't been looking for Tsubomi when she had been on her avoidance-spree as far as the latter acknowledged, which made her feel a little queasy. She cared about her, right? She'd have to be worried in some way.

Running through the entrance at Lu Rim, Tsubomi nearly flew up the flight of stairs as she desperately tried to remember the way to the correct room, feeling her nerves kick in as she started getting closer to Yaya again.

Tsubomi bolted around the corner and skidded to a halt at the door, which conveniently had a paper taped to it saying _**'play rehearsal – do not disturb'**_. Suppressing a cheeky grin, the pinkette took a moment to get her breathing under control and straighten out her uniform. The longer she stood there just staring at the door, the more her stomach churned with anxiety, like it was doing somersaults all the way. Her heart practically jumped in her chest. What would she do if she saw Yaya? What would she finally say to her? Tsubomi had absolutely no clue. But, figuring she would puke if she waited there a little longer, she bluntly pushed the door open and walked in. She kept her eyes focused on the ground, feeling her cheeks burn uncomfortably because she felt every eye upon her as the room fell silent.

"Oh, Tsubomi-san, you made it just in time!"

Tsubomi carefully looked up, making sure to look only to the direction of Chikaru's voice at not anywhere else. She nodded and apologized for being late, which Chikaru obviously waved off like it was no big deal that the main role was half an hour late to an important rehearsal.

As if in a haze, the roseate-haired girl moved to the stage and suddenly found herself standing in front of Yaya. Just like that. The latter's face was unreadable. She didn't say a word and seemed like she wasn't planning to anytime soon, her jaw was tightened and her hands clenched into fists. But her eyes wore this affectionate gleam that Tsubomi could see she was trying to hide. The pinkette made an enormous effort to tear her eyes off of Yaya's face, turning towards Chikaru.

"Which scene are we at?" she managed to ask. Her heart was almost making double beats and her face was about to explode. Why didn't Yaya show any emotion? It scared Tsubomi. She wasn't expecting anything specifically, but she would've thought that the raven-haired girl would've been either happy or mad. But this neutral, rigid Yaya nearly gave her the chills. What had happened to the crooked grins, the squiggly eyebrows when she made a sexual tease or anything for that matter? Sure, Tsubomi knew that she'd hurt her, so she could've expected it, but this had hit her hard none the less. They would have to talk after rehearsal.  
>=====<p>

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>"Okay people, that wraps it up. Good job everyone! I'm impressed, keep this going and you'll blow the audience away next week." announced Chikaru after the final scene and clean up, flashing the brightest smile. The girls smiled back and slowly left the room one by one, some lingering to talk.<p>

The rehearsal had went pretty good. Everyone knew their lines well, the only note Chikaru had made towards them was to get more into character.

Tsubomi wandered around the room a little helplessly, cautiously scanning the room for any sight of Yaya but fearing the moment she'd catch her eye. Little did she know that Yaya had dashed off since Chikaru stated her final words. So she stood there, fumbling with the hem of her skirt, thinking of something to make herself useful. Scripts were scattered all around the room, so the pinkette proceeded to collect them and bring them to Chikaru.

She stopped for a moment at the windowsill to watch the clouds gather and getting more dense and grey. It seemed like it was going to either rain or thunder real bad. She shivered. Tsubomi didn't like thunderstorms. They made her feel so small and vulnerable. One loud, cracking, white-hot lightning bolt could nearly make a human vaporize, turn to dust. They could burn up whole houses and forests and tribes… she just didn't like them. Throwing one last glance out of the window, she spotted a certain coal-haired girl rushing along the path to Spica. Her heart suddenly reeled and her stomach flipped. Tsubomi had finally had the guts to face Yaya, and now she simply just walked out on her? With an agonizing feeling, the lilac-haired girl haphazardly gave Chikaru the scripts and ran off, hoping she'd catch Yaya along the way.

The sky cracked open the second Tsubomi set foot outside Lu Rim. Rain poured down, quickly darkening the ground, making every student run off yelping. The steady hum of water hitting the concrete path droned about, and the air smelled of Spring. If it weren't for the fact that Tsubomi was chasing Yaya, she'd stop dead in her tracks and let the rain wash it all away.

"Yaya-chan!" she called as soon as she got in her line of sight. But the older Spican walked on, as if she were deaf. Tsubomi grimaced and sprinted the last few meters to Yaya, grabbing her wrist as tightly as she could and pulling her back with a force she didn't know she had.

Her amber eyes found the surprised brown ones of Yaya, who's expression was genuinely happy for a split second before turning stoic again. Jaw tensed. Rigid posture. "What?" she nearly hissed.

"I-I- I need- we need to talk."

"Really? You think you can just have a little chitchat with me after avoiding me for a week? Do you even realize how much I worried about you?" Yaya began, her eyes growing wide and hurt, her form slowly starting to become less statue-like. She put her hands on Tsubomi's shoulders, "You walk out of my life as if you don't even care and you come here and say we need to _talk_? Because I think just talking isn't going to fix this, to be honest."

Tsubomi was rendered speechless for a couple of seconds. In one minute, Yaya had managed to crush all her bravery and throw it away. What was she going to say to this? Explain it all? Throw in the best excuses she could find? But there was nothing else for her to do. All she could really do was to explain why it had happened like it happened. Tsubomi felt tears prickling out of sheer frustration and impotence but she blinked them away. She was just going to tell Yaya how she felt. And looking into those chocolate-brown eyes, watching the rain pour down her beautiful face, Tsubomi somehow felt like she _could _fix this with just talking. She could fix Yaya's heart.

"_Gomen ne._" she whispered, "_Gomen ne… _for everything. I-I know I've been wrong, and I know I've hurt you. I can't even begin to think how I made you feel, but I just want you to know that… it wasn't as if I didn't care about you anymore." Yaya's angry expression drained away from her face as Tsubomi continued in a shaky voice, "I want you to know that I've been avoiding you to sort out what I felt. B-because I was scared, Yaya. Scared of what would happen, scared of my own feelings. Do you think it was easy for me? I haven't been evading you just because I didn't want to see you, but because I was afraid what it would trigger."

She looked up at Yaya briefly. "I still am afraid… but I thought I'd tell you that I have feelings for you too. I'm not sure what they are exactly but I don't want to do this anymore. This isn't working either, you'd agree. I don't want to hurt you, Yaya-chan."

Having that said, silence dawned on them, the only sound being that of the pouring rain. Yaya's face had softened during Tsubomi's little speech, all the anger and hurt ebbed away from her features. Strands of hair stuck to her face as her lips curled into a half smile. She had to admit, Tsubomi had the guts, plainly facing her as if nothing had happened after her disappearance. But she couldn't stay mad at her. Her words seemed genuine. They'd made Yaya's pulse shoot up into the sky, made all her own assumptions and guilt disappear. Now she stood there before her, uncertain eyes focused upon her own, waiting cautiously for an answer.

"Tsubomi-chan…" Yaya simply said and pulled the roseate-haired girl in for a hug, gently snaking her arms around the girl's neck. She sighed contently as Tsubomi relaxed in her grip. "Do you remember how you said you were sorry? I can't tell you enough that it wasn't your fault."

To her surprise, Tsubomi outed a chuckle. "You're an idiot, you know that?" she continued, sounding muffled because she had buried her face into the crook of Yaya's neck. Tsubomi was silently glad that it was raining, so Yaya wouldn't see her cry. She didn't know why she'd become so emotional but maybe it was just the fact of solving everything a little bit. Though they were far from being completely done with it, it felt like some of it had fallen into place.

Yaya let go of the smaller girl, keeping her at an arm's length. "So, what now?"

"I-I think it's best if we just… stay friends. For now. I don't want to regret anything. I don't want to rush this, or do something stupid. Which is, moreover, bound to happen with you." the pinkette said after a while, catching a glimpse of mischief in the raven-haired girl's eyes.

"Friends with benefits?" Yaya inquired with a grin, earning a smack on the head.  
>=====<p>

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><strong>An: Aight! So, the ending is maybe a bit lame, but I think it's a good ending none the less. It fits the title perfectly, for the first time ever, omg. This took forever to write, but I'm quite glad with how it came out. Some parts are lousy, the words don't exactly flow like I'd want them to, but overall, I like this chapter. Hope you guys do too!**

**As you have seen, things are friendly again between the two lovebirds (: Next chapter's going to be all about the upcoming play! Will Yaya and Tsubomi solve their problems or will it stand in the way of their important performance? Find out in the next chapter!**

**Read&Review please! I love getting them reviews, and I want to thank all of the ones who did exactly that (: you guys keep me writing. I'll update as soon as possible.  
><strong>=====

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><em><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!<br>**_=====


	9. Ch 9: Alexithymia

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><strong>Chapter Nine<br>**=====

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><strong>Alexithymia<strong>  
>=====<p>

"Yaya-chan! Get up you lazy _baka_!"

The girl in question moaned as she felt a pillow collide with her head not too subtly, grinning into the fluffy fabric. She let out a low grunt as she turned over in bed and still sensed the smell and warmth next to her, where Tsubomi had been sleeping half an hour ago. Yaya still couldn't believe that the youngster had accepted to sleep next to her last night. Under the threat of being strangled with bare hands by Tsubomi herself if she'd try anything, of course. But still. The raven-haired girl smiled crookedly as she sat up in bed, throwing away the pillow on her head.

"G'morning to you too, sunshine." she grinned, stretching her arms above her head. Her eyes drifted groggily to Tsubomi, who was already fully dressed and standing in front of her, one hand on her hip and a blush spread wide across her face. Tsubomi tried not to give in to the adorable sight of a sleepy Yaya as the latter yawned and slumped back into bed.

"I mean it, Yaya-chan! You're gonna be late, once again," the pinkette scoffed, rolling her eyes, "and this time, I'm not going to help you think of excuses."

"Aw, now you're just being mean, Tsubomi-chan."

Yaya stepped out of bed in one swift movement, catching the roseate-haired girl in her arms before she could move a muscle. Yaya could almost feel Tsubomi's blush getting worse as she felt the younger girl struggle in her grip, trying her best to pry her attacker off.

"_B-baka_! Get dressed you idiot!" she yelled, finally shrugging Yaya off and stepping away from her, her face as red as a beet. She watched the brown-eyed girl staggering off to the bathroom, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. Tsubomi sighed and sat down on the bed, wondering why she'd agreed to sleep with Yaya for the night in the first place. The raven-haired girl had been chivalrous enough to let her get most of the space in the bed, though Tsubomi had found herself waking up closer to Yaya than she would've wanted. But she'd stayed there none the less, curled up against the other girls' warm body, watched her sleeping face, trying to figure out the feelings it all gave her.

And she'd have to admit, she couldn't even try to deny she was attracted to the other girl. Whenever her chocolate brown eyes only rested on hers, her stomach would flip, butterflies included. Yaya acted like her old self again, constantly teasing Tsubomi from the moment they had made up, making things even worse for poor Tsubomi. She'd turn into a puddle of blushes and stutters every time Yaya tried to make a move. But the pinkette countered every time, managing to defend herself with harsh words she didn't really mean. She was just too afraid to give into her just yet.

Like she had told Yaya, she didn't want to rush and kill all that they had right now. Which was some weird, flirty, more-than-friends but not exactly-situation. And quite frankly, Tsubomi felt quite okay with just that. It made her able to discover and to feel, without feeling obligated to do anything.

She rearranged her thoughts as Yaya came in from the bathroom again, wearing just her Spican skirt but nothing else to cover her upper body but her looked up to her and felt her breath getting caught in her throat as her eyes involuntarily roamed across the sight, her face flushing red almost instantly. The roseate-haired girl felt her pulse quickening as she tried her best to tear her eyes off of Yaya, who merely smirked at her.

"Something wrong?" Yaya teased, her voice quivering with stifled laughter. Her eyes glinted playfully at Tsubomi but the latter missed the hint completely. She just stood there, mesmerized.

Then, she felt something warm dripping down her upper lip, and she sniffed. The feeling continued, so she wiped her nose with her hand, only to find a streak of blood smudged all over it. At first, she looked at it confusedly, but then it hit her and Tsubomi wished Yaya didn't see.

But she did. The coal-haired girl stood there watching Tsubomi for few seconds before she bursted out into heartily laughter. She didn't _want _to laugh at the poor girl but she just couldn't help but to be rather amused by the comical sight, not to mention the cause of it. But the pinkette was far from being amused. With a face as red as the blood dripping from her nose, she desperately searched for a tissue or something whilst pinching her nose to prevent more to come gushing down.

"Jeez, Tsubomi-chan, I don't know whether to feel flattered or worried." Yaya said once she'd calmed down, a grin plastered on her face as she opened a drawer and presented the smaller girl a tissue.

Tsubomi didn't reply but only shot Yaya a very lethal gaze. Holding the tissue to her nose, she made sure not to make too much eye contact with the older Spican, feeling embarrassed to no end. She wished she could just disappear, but she couldn't because Yaya was now tending to her. Though her features seemed entertained, her brown eyes glinted with worry. The black-haired girl gave Tsubomi another tissue and made sure she firmly held her nose so it would stop.

After a little while, the blood stopped flowing. Tsubomi looked at the ground, still feeling the embarrassment bubbling in her stomach. She could practically feel Yaya's smirk on her.

"I wanted to ask why the heck that happened, but I figured I wouldn't need to after all." Yaya said as she placed herself in front of Tsubomi, hands on her hips and a grin once again spread across her face. And even after all this, she still hadn't cared to put on a shirt or something, making the pinkette on edge and feeling queasy. She tried to look at Yaya's face as much as possible.

"Dob't eben start to think 'bout it." Tsubomi replied, her voice sounding muffled because of her clogged nose. She grimaced as Yaya's grin only widened. "And could you please pud on a shirt or subthing?" the pinkette quickly added, her eyes dangerously adverting again.

"As you wish, princess." Yaya replied, still smirking. She turned around and grabbed the nearest piece of clothing in sight, pulling it over her head. The Spican felt a little guilty, but she was amused none the less by the fact that she herself had caused the nosebleed. It made her feel more confident about what exactly Tsubomi's feelings towards her consisted of. Because she hadn't exactly known or dared to guess anything out of the blue, up until now. The fact that her body turned Tsubomi on in some way made her feel very good indeed. But then again, she didn't want to jump conclusions.

" Better?" she turned back to Tsubomi, now dressed in a fitting sweater. The rose-haired girl nodded, a crimson blush still visible on her cheeks.

"So whatcha say, want to practice some lines after class?" Yaya inquired, only to be met with another lethal gaze from Tsubomi, who crossed her arms in front of her chest. She proceeded to roll her eyes, as if Yaya were a kid that needed to be taught that two plus two really does equals four and not five.

"Whadda you think, you idiot, I cab't talk like dis."

"Oh. Right." the raven-haired girl chuckled, scratching the back of her neck. She threw a quick gaze outside and saw the sun shining brightly. She almost prayed for the weather to stay this way. "Well, I'll just meet you at the chapel when classes have ended then?"  
>=====<p>

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>Though the sun was shining like it hadn't been doing for weeks, the Spring air was still fresh and a little cold. Birds hid in the trees to somehow shelter from the breeze and the tall grass rustled as some clouds traveled high above the Earth's surface.<p>

Yaya stood against the chapel, leaning into it, her back against the cold brick. She absentmindedly looked up at the sky, squinting to block out the bright sunlight from her eyes. Checking her watch ever so often, she felt like she was either way to early, not remembering when Tsubomi's classes ended or that the latter was not coming. But even so her heart remained almost suspiciously calm. Maybe because she knew, deep inside, that the last part wasn't true at all. Tsubomi had come to her. She'd stayed, confessed that she had feelings for her.

The black-haired girl smiled contently. Though she couldn't really tell what Tsubomi was like, but what she did figure was that she was a girl of principles. She stuck to what she said and promised. So she would be around. Tsubomi wouldn't walk away.

"Hey."

Yaya turned around to see the girl in question walking toward her, hands stuffed into the pockets of her uniform because of the cold but a smile on her face none the less.

"Hey there. How's the nose?" Yaya replied, a grin playing on her lips.

"Fine, thanks for worrying," the pinkette rolled her eyes and shuffled closer, leaning against the chapel wall next to Yaya, "so, what do you want to do?"

The older Spican shrugged. "I was thinking practicing lines, like always. But we know the text inside out, don't we? So it's no fun anymore. And if there's something I hate it is doing things that aren't fun." Yaya took a second to flash a brief grin, "So I figured, we could maybe take a run to the town down the hill and have something to drink?"

"Are you nuts? You're talking about leaving school grounds here!" Tsubomi's eyebrows raised in question as she turned to Yaya. Asking her to go and skip classes, okay. That was nothing, easy to get out of, but sneaking out of school to _grab a drink_? Yaya'd really lost it this time.

"Yeah, and? Come on, Tsubomi, you're such a goodie-two-shoes, you have GOT have some fun once in a while! Do something wild, maybe smoke something funny…" the raven-haired girl said, giving Tsubomi a gentle poke with her elbow, smirking. "T-that was a joke! Sorry." she quickly added upon seeing the glance of utter disapproval boring into her own eyes.

"Having fun does not have to equal breaking rules, Yaya-chan."

"Does it now? Okay then, you tell me what _exciting _things there are to do here in the dorms, except for maybe flirting with someone hot." Yaya rolled her eyes but couldn't prevent a chuckle from escaping her throat. But that quickly died away when she saw the serious look on Tsubomi's face.

"You're really serious huh?"

Yaya put her hand on her hip. "Well yeah! I mean you hadn't even had your first kiss up until a week ago so that proves that you've either never been out or that you are not so good at flirting." the coal-haired Spican grinned at the blush of embarrassment creeping up to Tsubomi's face, seeing her resistance slowly breaking to pieces. "Come on, just give me one chance. You'll like it."

"But what if the Sister will find out?" Tsubomi countered, feeling insecure. She knew Yaya was reckless but she didn't quite know if she wanted to experience the feeling as well.

"She won't. Trust me on this." Yaya ushered, smiling gently at Tsubomi, who still looked a bit unsure, a glimmer of doubt in her eyes. But the roseate-haired girl then took a deep breath and nodded, questioning herself why she just _had _to give into Yaya.  
>=====<p>

=====  
>"You sure you don't want to take anything about saying this was a bad idea?" Yaya smirked as she took a swig of her double espresso, still reading the look of utter surprise on Tsubomi's face with amusement. She was almost sure that the smaller girl had instantly thought of going to some lousy bar to get drunk or something similar when she asked her to 'go and grab a drink'. But Yaya knew better than to take Tsubomi to some place like that. She wouldn't ever do that.<p>

"N-no!" Tsubomi countered, putting down her cup of tea with a rather loud thud and crossing her arms in front of her chest, "I'm still worried that someone will find out."

But to be honest, Tsubomi didn't even believe herself anymore. This was so different from what she thought Yaya meant. It made her feel safe, being able to trust the black-haired girl after all. There was still a slight pang of maybe guilt in her stomach every once in a while, but that faded quickly.

"Well, stop worrying then." Yaya smiled.

Silence dawned upon them for a second, the background noise of people chatting, cups and cutlery clattering on plates and gentle laughter filling the air. It was nice and warm in comparison to the weather outside, making both Yaya and Tsubomi feel fuzzy inside. The small dinner café where Yaya had brought them wasn't too big, but it was well-known among the people in the town and she knew, out of personal experience, that they served rather nice coffee. Some nice drinks and cocktails and other stuff too, but for now it was just coffee.

Tsubomi cautiously eyed Yaya from underneath her pink locks as she took a sip of her green tea, quickly starting to feel awkward because of the lingering silence between them. The older Spican looked rather contently, staring out of the window from across.

"Yaya-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"I-I was wondering, why'd you brought me here." Tsubomi stammered, feeling a blush creeping up to her cheeks as she quickly emptied her cup of tea in one gulp.

Yaya blinked and put down her small espresso cup. "Why you ask? Can't I treat my Tsubomi-chan to some nice things, except for taking you to bed, maybe? And for the record I'm only not doing that because you won't allow me." a smirk played on her lips.

"That's exactly what I mean! I-I mean, you… want t-to go to bed with me, s-so there must be some reason why you're doing this, am I right?"

A sigh escaped from Yaya's lips as she leaned in over the small table, closer to Tsubomi. She could understand that the youngster had a lot of questions, but she had told her that she was barely discovering her own feelings up to this point, so Yaya didn't particularly see the importance of the matter. But then again, she couldn't blame the pinkette for being on edge. For all Yaya knew, Tsubomi might be thinking that she is just some other flirt to Yaya, though the latter had banned out that idea already.

She eyed the amber-eyed girl cautiously. If anything, Yaya didn't like to just throw out her feelings out in the open. But she couldn't do anything else but to exactly do that. She didn't want to lose Tsubomi because the latter felt insecure or something like that. Yaya couldn't afford to. So she'd have to say, even though the vulnerability made a shiver run down her spine. The Spican took a deep breath and leaned in even closer, fixing her gaze on Tsubomi's.

"Tsubomi, like I said before... I-I'm in lo—"

What Yaya wanted to say was 'I'm in love with you, so I want to make you feel good', but she couldn't continue because the waiter had roughly interrupted her by giving Tsubomi an expensive looking cocktail. The small girl looked up in surprise.

"With the kind regards of the lady at the bar." he solely said before briskly stalking off again, nudging his head to the direction of the mentioned lady. Both Tsubomi and Yaya turned their heads amazingly fast and followed his nudge. Their eyes landed on a young woman (Yaya thought twenty-something) with brown hair, who casually winked at Tsubomi.

"…Oh. Okay." the latter managed to say, "Well. This is unexpected."

Tsubomi outed a nervous laugh as her eyes kept shooting back and forth between Yaya, the drink and the brunette at the bar, who ever so often threw the lilac-haired girl a glance.

But Yaya, on the other hand, was far from amused. Her jaw was rigid, her teeth gritted together and her eyes narrowed as she gave the young woman who offered the drink the most lethal gaze she could muster. A low, almost territorial growl escaped her throat as she fought the urge to kiss Tsubomi on the spot, just to show the damned lady that she was hers, and hers alone.

Jealousy was the thing that Yaya both hated and respected. She thought it was rightful for lovers to be envious or jealous, or even protective. The last part was even a very good thing indeed. If they didn't show all that, they might not show what they feel for another, and what they would do to keep their relationship going. To keep the challenges high, to keep showing you cared for the other, so to say. But the coal-haired girl also believed that jealousy was just a bad habit that somehow spiraled out of control. It's hard to give the people you love freedom in what they want to do, when the other is trying to hold them back.

"Um, Yaya-chan?"

The tall Spican shook her head lightly and focused her eyes back upon Tsubomi's, the worried and somewhat flattered look in those eyes bringing some of her calmth back. "…What?"

"You just… growled?" Tsubomi said, an involuntarily smile playing on her lips. She never knew Yaya was the girl to be the jealous type. Not at all to the extent of letting out almost instinct-like sounds and roars to show her anger. She thought a girl like Yaya didn't have to fight to get what she wanted.

Yaya bit her bottom lip, not really wanting to answer the question. But that only added fuel to the fire that was Tsubomi at the moment. The latter playfully crossed her arms in front of her chest and confronted Yaya. "Nanto Yaya, are you _jealous?_" a laugh from the pinkette when the older girl didn't reply but just pouted and looked the other way, "Seriously?"

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Yaya mumbled under her breath when Tsubomi bursted out into giggles, seemingly amused to no end. This was why Yaya didn't like to be the jealous type. But she just couldn't help herself. What was hers, needed to stay that way.

"Really, Yaya-chan? I hadn't given you the credit for it."

"Okay! I get it, okay? I said it's enough." the raven-haired Spican countered, the reply harsher than she intended it to be, causing Tsubomi to shrink back visibly. Yaya sighed and reached over the table, catching the smaller, softer hand of the pinkette in her own. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just that I absolutely can't stand it when someone gets in the way of what I want."

"B-but I didn't—no one's even standing in your way!" the rose-haired girl replied with a small, anxious chuckle, trying to read Yaya's expression, but failing. Her face revealed nothing but her eyes betrayed her hurt and genuine worry.

Yaya gripped Tsubomi's hand tighter, "What about the woman?"

"Are you mad? Yaya-chan, she's—I don't even know her. Seriously though, why would you think some brunette behind a bar offering me some cheap-ass drink would instantly get to have me? It's not like she'll conquer the way to my heart just like that." Tsubomi said, the hurt tone of being a little insulted dripping from her voice. Sure, she understood that Yaya didn't like it that some random stranger was flirting with her, but it meant absolutely nothing. As if she were some puppy that could be distracted with a single flick of the wrist. "I'm not that easy, you know."

The brown eyes of Yaya grew wider as the words sunk in, and she drew the pinkette impossibly closer though the table blocked her way. "No, no don't think like that! That's… that's not what I meant at all. I'm sorry." She sighed deeply, seemingly having trouble about what to say.

"It's just that, I'm lousy with words, okay? I-I don't know how to talk about my feelings and emotions at all, and I'm scared to do so because… I'd be so… so vulnerable. And I guess that my body takes over when my mouth fails to speak. I hope you understand. Because you mean a lot to me, and—and I'd love to out my feelings to you more by words than action. But I can't promise anything."

Tsubomi nodded slowly, feeling a little guilty. That at least explained all the cocky behaviour, the teases, the hug-assaults and whatnot.

"I see. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, Yaya-chan. I'm sorry."

Yaya just waved it off and sat back in her chair, looking anywhere but Tsubomi. She shook her head lightly and downed the last bit of espresso she had left. This was not at all what she'd wanted this little date to be like. But now Tsubomi at least knew what she was in for. And it seemed as if the latter had no obligations to her behaviour for now. So that was good, right?

She sighed as she put the small cup down and caught Tsubomi's amber, remote gaze. "Let's go back to school then, shall we?"

Tsubomi nodded and also stood up, proceeding to put on her jacket. In one swift movement, she felt two warm and soft hands on her shoulders, helping her get into the white coat. A smile played on her lips as she also felt the delicate weight of Yaya's arm around her shoulders, steadily guiding her out of the diner, out into the cold again. Yaya paid the bill and before they both exited the café, the raven-haired girl threw one last glance at the woman at the bar, making sure that she was watching them walking away.

A smirk graced her face when she saw the brunette stare at her with jealousy.  
>=====<p>

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><strong>An: my god I'm getting worse and worse at keeping these things updated. I'm sorry guys but school's really been a pain in the arse. Like, for real. It's the final year for me so I really have to keep tabs on homework, essays and deadlines, so I find myself having less and less time to write ):  
>In any case, I'll try my very best to get the next chapter up sooner!<strong>

**As for the chapter itself: I'm finding endings harder and harder to come up with. My chapters always end so sappy in my opinion. I don't know, if I come up with something better in some days I'll change it but for now this'll do. Could you guys tell me how to maybe make more suitable endings? I quite like the rest of the chapter though, I like how it's turned out. Next up will be the finale: the play! That'll probably be the last chapter, finishing this fic with a nice 10 chapters. I hope I can make the final chapter longer than it's processors, which I'm sure it will be because I have to mostly describe the play. Which I'm also looking forward to to write! (: More lovely YayaxTsubomi fluff will ensue.**

**Last but not least, leave me a review! There are some loyal readers out there who I'd like to thank for reviewing every chapter and sticking with me :3 So thank you guys! I hope I won't be disappointing you these last few chaps. So I ask again: read&review please!  
><strong>=====

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><em><strong>Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story.<br>**_=====


	10. Ch 10: The Play!

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><strong>Chapter Ten<br>**=====

====**  
>An: okay guys, like I said: final chapter! I hope I have displayed the characters well enough in this one, because they -of course- have a role to fulfill in the play, without losing their personality too much. I didn't want to go all OOC on this chapter. Especially Yaya, I think she'd be the one to still kid around even though it's important as hell XD But yeah, I tried my best at it. And I must say, I quite like Yaya as Romeo… (:**

**So, as for the chapter… a lot will happen. Of course, the play itself. Tsubomi's getting close to breaking down from nerves and Yaya is utterly oblivious to the feelings the pinkette is dealing with. Will they be alright in the end, after the play? I'm not spoilering too much up here though, read for yourselves!  
><strong>=====

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><strong>The Play!<br>**=====

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><em>BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BE<em>— Yaya quickly smashed the alarm clock silent, groaning in displeasure as she looked at the red digits on it. It was only eight o 'clock, and for a brief moment, the raven-haired Spican just looked at the alarm with narrowed, absent-looking eyes, trying her best to remember why the heck the thing went off so early anyway. But then the event sunk in: the play. The last few days before the play had passed so quickly that she had a little bit of trouble acknowledging the fact that it was indeed the final day.

She kicked the blankets off her roughly, the sudden move making her wake up some more. Yaya couldn't afford to sleep in another five minutes only to end up an hour later today. They (being the whole crew supporting the play) had agreed to meet up with everyone and practice it all one last time before the show actually started. This was important and she knew for a fact that Tsubomi would probably tell her off if she'd be late. No excuses whatsoever. Yaya ever so slightly grinned at the thought of Tsubomi as she swung her legs out of bed and stretched, feeling more like a cat napping in the summer sun than ever.

Gathering up the courage to actually get out of bed, she sighed dramatically and then pushed herself away from the warm hiding place under the blankets. A groggy groan escaped her lips as she pulled open the curtains and a beam of bright sunlight pained her eyes.

Yaya opened the window, not affected by the cold breeze that quickly began to fill the room. Yaya'd never really hated the cold. Though she did prefer Summer and warmth in general over almost anything, during the wintertime, it was like her body instantly turned into a heater. Her body temperature would just shoot up, making her able to wear a simple t-shirt when other people were freezing to death wearing a sweater. She wondered idly if snow would melt around her.

She staggered off to the bathroom whilst she lazily texted Tsubomi to see if she was awake and alive too. A quick reply gave way that she was on her way to Yaya right now. The latter muttered.

"Damn. I hate getting up early on Saturdays."  
>=====<p>

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>"Yaya-<em>senpai<em>, would you be so nice to actually pay attention?" Tsubomi nearly hissed to the coal-haired girl, over-emphasizing the suffix. She gave her a poke between the ribs not all too subtly for good measure, trying to get her to focus. "It's kind of important, you know."

The two girls stood backstage, along with some other crew members, listening intently to the scenes that were now acted out— at least, Tsubomi and all the others were. But Yaya just stood there, ever so easily teasing the pinkette in front of her and having a laugh at what the other cast members were producing, making jokes like she was handing out blankets to homeless people. And the fact that Chikaru-sama was hardly paying attention to the mob of girls backstage, too, didn't help at all.

A sudden rush of anxiety washed over Tsubomi as she realized that they had less than 12 hours to practice their asses off and produce a amazing show. And the way things were going now were quite good, above expectation, but Yaya was really starting to piss her off. It wasn't like she was angry at Yaya as a person, but it was more about the situation. She was literally camping with her nerves and the way the black-haired Spican acted so carelessly made her on edge.

"But Tsu-bo-mi-chaaan, I'm so busy observing you~" came the playful reply, and not soon after Tsubomi felt Yaya's strong arm enveloping her waist. A blush rapidly made her way to her cheeks as she unsuccessfully tried to shrug the older girl off.

"Get off!" Tsubomi whispered, trying not to interrupt the practice.

"What? You want me to start without you?" Yaya said with a smirk, amused at her own wittiness once again, "Why would you to that to me?" she continued, adding feigned hurt to her voice and gluing a fake pout on her face. She could practically feel Tsubomi stiffening up underneath her arms.

"_B-b-baka! _That's not w-what I meant!" the pinkette smacked Yaya on the head, fuming but also feeling her heart flutter when she admittedly thought of the image it brought to her head. She felt her cheeks go impossibly redder, and from her peripheral sight she noticed a sly grin making its way onto Yaya's lips. Tsubomi's eyes quickly flashed around to see if anyone was looking at them, if anyone was weirded out, but everyone was focused on the practice.

"But I did make you think of it, didn't I?

"… Idiot."

Yaya hummed and proceeded to tighten her grip on the smaller girl, her head now resting on Tsubomi's shoulder. She could feel her struggle, trying her best to get loose from her vice-tight grip, but the coal-haired Spican knew that she was way stronger. Yaya grinned like a lion as she bowed her head and breathed into Tsubomi's ear before proceeding to plant several kisses in her neck.

On instant, the rose-haired girl shivered, the feeling of Yaya's wet lips against her skin almost ecstatic. Her body went from rigid to melting into the other girls' arms in less than a second, and she cursed herself for letting Yaya take advantage. She knew she'd been practically keeping Yaya on a leash for the past few days, but only to feel herself desire for the older girl more and more, she just couldn't gather up the courage to finally let her emotions flow and tell Yaya the truth.

"Y-Yaya, stop!" she managed to whisper just feebly, trying to peel Yaya's arms off, but her limbs had gone numb, being about as strong as jelly.

But the raven-haired girl went on, gently yet with pressure biting down on the skin on Tsubomi's neck, causing a low moan to escape from her lips. Deep inside, Yaya knew that the pinkette really didn't want her to stop; it was just her principle and morale to say 'no', but she had feelings and emotions, and she was sure that they screamed 'yes'.

"S-stop it!"

A sudden shove pushed Yaya away roughly, a frown almost instantly knitting together above her expressionless brown eyes. She felt Tsubomi's enraged eyes piercing through her own, and for a second she felt seriously intimidated, wanting to apologize quickly, but she needed to listen to what the other Spican had to say first.

"What's wrong with you?" Tsubomi hissed, her pose viciously defensive, hands balled into fists and her amber eyes darting around nervously, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention, "What part of stop don't you understand?" she spat.

"I could ask you the same," Yaya shrugged as a matter-of-factly, "when will you stop wrapping me around your finger and leading me on? I was only trying to push you away from that."

Tsubomi raised her eyebrows, feeling a bit offended. Yes, she knew she was leading Yaya on. But that didn't mean she did it on purpose. Like she was just doing that for fun. She was involuntarily leading her on because she couldn't do anything else. She couldn't allow herself to do anything else, because she'd made mistakes before by going too fast, which made her live more in her shell nowadays. Tsubomi couldn't risk to do the same to Yaya. And even if she could allow herself to do just so, this was not the right time. Yaya needed to understand that.

"I'm trying to figure out what I feel and all I ask of you is to leave me alone in that. Yet, you don't listen. You never listen. Is it really so much to ask for?" the small Spican said in a low whisper.

"Well, it is when you _ask _me to stay away, but another when your body language says otherwise. You don't need more time, Tsubomi-chan. You know damn well how you feel. We both know. Why are you so scared to accept it? I won't hurt you." Yaya replied, grabbing Tsubomi's shoulders and squeezing them gently, but the pinkette swatted her hands away, her posture now offensive, arms flailed up into the air in a exasperated gesture, though she knew Yaya was right _somewhere_.

"How would you know what I feel? Who are you to say how I feel anyway, Yaya-chan? You did that once before, and that didn't end well either." Tsubomi instantly regretted her words when she saw Yaya's eyes go blank, hearing her heart shatter all over again.

The black-haired Spican swallowed away the feeling of immense guilt and pain as she tried to not show her hurt, but that was a futile attempt. In the back corner of her mind, the part that still made sense, she wondered how Tsubomi could think it was okay to say that right in her face."So… you want to play it that way, huh…" a low, humorless chuckle, "Let's not, okay? I don't want to do that to you, really. All I'm trying to say to you is that you should make a choice, Tsubomi-chan. Because I am not ready for a second let-down."

"You know what? I don't even care if you're ready for it or not. What about _me,_Yaya-chan? Can the world for once not revolve around how YOU are feeling? You think you're so sad, having to wait for me to decide, while I am the one having to figure out the feelings, the options and crossing the line AND having to do this stupid play!" Tsubomi bursted, throwing her script on the ground, unshed tears of frustration swimming in her eyes as she looked up to an astounded Yaya. It felt like everything that had bothered her came crashing down at once.

"Don't you get it?" the pinkette said, her voice dropping to a whisper again, "Don't you see how hard this is, for me? Not everyone is born as awesome as you, instantly knowing what you want and how to keep it there." she rolled her eyes.

Tsubomi felt tired all of the sudden, and she adverted her gaze from Yaya, feeling new tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. She sniffed and turned back to the other Spican. "We're up." she said dryly, staggering off to the stage with Yaya in pursuit.

=====  
>Yaya stared intently at Tsubomi, who sat all the way on the other end of the table at dinner. The lilac-haired girl was purposely avoiding her again, her eyes ever so quickly darting her way. Though she was still around in some radius, Yaya didn't really understand why she wasn't talking to her, it just had no point. The play was in less than a few hours and they had play the parts of lovers, for God's sake. And it wasn't that Yaya didn't understand her feelings, she was just wanting the girl so much at this point that she needed to confirm Tsubomi's emotions.<p>

She sighed as she mutilated her food with her fork, too anxious to really eat anything. She normally wasn't the one for nerves, and she knew that her role was going to be near flawless since she knew the script by heart and the practice went perfect. But still, something inside her kept gnawing. She figured it had to do with Tsubomi. She couldn't get the look she had on her face out of her head, like it was somehow burned onto her retina.

"Yaya-chan, you feeling good for tonight?"

The girl in question turned to see Chikaru slip into the seat next to her, an ever present smile playing on her lips. Yaya grinned; she in fact was pretty excited, even though things had shaken up a little just now. "Hell yeah!"

"Good, I want you fully concentrated and ready in a few hours," the Shadow Empress of Lu Rim carefully said, eyes glinting knowingly, "so I hope for you there's nothing on your mind that can distract you in any way. Wouldn't want my star player to fail."

"Haha, really Chikaru-san, do you have that little faith in me?" Yaya joked back, grinning. But to be honest, a slow shiver ran down her spine. She hated it when Chikaru looked at her like that, and for a moment she felt as if she was going to blab about Tsubomi and everything right there. But Yaya contained herself and just smiled. She didn't need Chikaru's consolation. If anything, she was used to fixing things on her own, and in her own way. She'd manage.

"I'm just hoping for a perfect show. I've put a lot of work in this, not to mention you and all the other students. I would be devastated if something were to go wrong and you all would feel bad. There are thousands of little things racing through my head that need to be fixed, and I just wanted to check if my two main roles were feeling well."

Involuntarily, Yaya's eyes ever so slightly moved to Tsubomi's direction at the mention of her, catching just a flash of amber eyes before the pinkette had quickly adverted her gaze.

"I see. Well, don't you worry! I feel good." the raven-haired Spican replied, feeling a pang of guilt for lying to Chikaru. But she just couldn't give the poor woman more stuff to deal with, since she already looked so _busy_. The Lu Rim president hopped off again, skidding around the corner of the dining hall, probably on her way to the theatre already, preparing.

As the soft chatter and laughs at the table went on, Yaya sighed. Why was she letting this feeling she had ruin this night? She was supposed to be excited, and to worry about her text and not about some girl who didn't see that she was also having a hard time. The brown-eyed girl really believed that Tsubomi didn't understand how important she'd grown to her, and that it hurt to see her wait and wait with each day passing bringing another chance of rejection. Though she could judge by the pinkette's reaction that she was still interested, heartbreak scared her none the less.

In fact, it scared her to no end. Tsubomi didn't know, but she'd lay awake at night, thinking about several scenarios, how they would end up and how their friendship would eventually grow into something more. She hated to admit that fact but she could not stop to think about it. And now she loathed herself for pissing Tsubomi off yet again, hurting her and letting her down again. Yaya frowned. All she'd intended to do was to win the smaller girl over.

Yaya promptly stuck her fork in her steak and decided to go to her room to just relax for a while before the play. Just to rehearse her lines, perhaps do something to get her mind off Tsubomi. She knew she owned the pinkette an apology, and if she could she'd be on her knees already, but Yaya figured it'd be best to do it after the play. They'd only get caught up if anything were to happen before the show.

So the raven-haired girl doubted for a while but then stood up and left the dining room, practically feeling Tsubomi's eyes bore themselves in her back as she left. Little did Yaya know that the pinkette wasn't staring angrily at her. In fact, her amber eyes glinted with worry as she followed every move the raven-haired Spican made. Tsubomi felt horrible for accusing Yaya of things she wasn't even sure about, for speaking her mind before she'd actually thought it through. She had to admit that Yaya had made a point, but how would she let her know?

Tsubomi's eyebrows knitted together above her eyes. After confessing to Yaya and their little date in town, she'd hoped that these sort of things wouldn't happen anymore. She thought they'd settled things until she was to take it further down the road.

"Tsubomi-chan?"

Looking up, the girl in question saw a worried Hikari staring at her. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, but a-aren't you supposed to be practicing o-or getting ready? It's just two hours till the play starts, so…" the blonde said, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, innocent blue eyes gazing.

"…Uhm, no offense, but since when is that your business? " Tsubomi snarled back, her reply harsher than she had intended. She saw Hikari shrinking back visibly and the former sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment and massaging her temples. "Look, Hikari, I'm sorry, I'm just a little bit on edge. Thanks for your concern but I'll be fine. "

"Are you nervous? "

"No, not particularly. I'm just... I'm a bit jumbled up. There's a lot going on in my mind, but I need to focus on the play for now. I can't let myself be distracted." the pinkette replied, not bothering to give Hikari any other explanation. It wasn't that the blonde couldn't know of her troubles, Tsubomi just didn't want to confine herself with Hikari. Though the girl seemed reliable, Tsubomi had gotten some kind of dismay towards the innocent angel. Maybe because she was the one that had first broken Yaya's precious heart. Tsubomi wouldn't know.

But in any case, the pinkette knew that if she'd talk to her, she couldn't help. Maybe with other troubles, yes, but these things concerning Yaya, Tsubomi figured that the blonde would just emotionally collapse or so. Just because of what happened between them.

"Well... good luck then. But if you want to talk about it I'm here you know." Hikari said after a while, the air of awkwardness getting thicker and thicker. She just stood there a little helplessly, her big blue eyes making Tsubomi feel exposed.

So the pinkette slowly nodded and stood up from her dinner. "Yeah. Thanks. Hey, if you see Yaya, tell her I'm on my way to the auditorium already, okay?"

Tsubomi waltzed into the theatre, hoping she'd not directly bump into Yaya if she were here already, having absolutely no clue what to do if she did. But her worried thoughts were washed away as soon as she had closed the doors. The moment the pinkette set one foot in the room, she was overcome with noise and bustling people moving about in the theatre. Students ran about with costumes and stage lights, their yells and laughter drowning out their echoing footsteps.

Letting out an inaudible gasp, Tsubomi searched for a way to get to the stage, having to go right through the mob of busy girls. Her amber eyes darted around, looking for a route that disturbed as little people in their work or routine as possible.

"Tsubomi-chan!" an awfully familiar voice shouted her name, and said girl turned to the sound of the voice in record speed, only to find Yaya standing in front of her. Before Tsubomi could do anything, the raven-haired girl grabbed her hand and dragged her along. "I've been looking all over the place for you! We were really getting worried you know? I'd almost risked the wrath of Chikaru upon me by going out to search for you."

Yaya looked over her shoulder for a brief moment with a smirk on her face, confusing poor Tsubomi even more. The latter couldn't understand why Yaya started to talk to her like nothing had happened. Like they hadn't had that arguement a few hours ago.

"I-I-I don't understand, the play is still one hour away," Tsubomi stammered, "It's not like I'm late or anything... am I?"

"You, late? Of course not, kiddo, but Chikaru has made a few last-minute changes to the play. God knows how she'd come up with the nerve to change a Shakespeare, and especially_ this_last-minute, but she's done it alright. It's nothing major but you're gonna have to want to see this."

Dragging Tsubomi all the way backstage, Yaya finally let go of the pinkette's hand and grinned at her mysteriously as Chikaru just sat there behind a desk, basking in all her director's glory, the script in her hands. The moment the Queen of Lu Rim saw Tsubomi, her eyes sparkled knowingly and she jumped up, seemingly overjoyed.

"Tsubomi! You're here, good." she began, unwrapping the script from her hands and showing it to the rose-haired girl, pointing out the changes, "You see, I just thought up the most wonderful extra bit! It's right before the end, at the balcony scene. Instead of the planned intimate hug you're gonna share, you two lovelies are going to share a petit kiss." Chikaru smiled as if she'd just revealed the most awesome of plans ever.

Yaya chuckled in the background as Tsubomi went stiff and just stood there for a brief moment, utterly speechless. She stared at Chikaru like she'd gone mad. _Kiss Yaya? In front of the rest of the school? What is she thinking?_

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, you heard the woman Tsubomi-chan! You're gonna have to kiss me, aren't you excited~?" Yaya chimed in, her trademark smirk once again plastered on her face.

"You're really serious, Chikaru-sama?" the pinkette cautiously asked, her face going white as the latter nodded , "Huh. And you really think I'm going to kiss Yaya-chan in front of the _entire_damn school? No offense on your ideas but, that's just unacceptable."

"But why not? It's nothing personal between you two, right? You're actors, it should be fine. But if you really insist, I'll scrap the idea. I'd just like you to consider."

Tsubomi nodded and politely waited for Chikaru to go back to her little desk and scribble around in the script again. She then grabbed Yaya's wrist and pulled the grinning girl along, away from Chikaru. Once they were out of hearing reach, Tsubomi leaned in closely to the raven-haired girl, pointing an angry finger at the Lu Rim president. "How the hell could you say yes to that?"

"It seemed fun." Yaya shrugged.

"Fun? I don't understand your humor then, Yaya-chan. Why would you even think I was going to agree with that?"

"I didn't. I said yes on my behalf because I don't have any problems with it at all. Are you okay with that, or are you against me having my own opinion now too?" came the agitated reply, shutting Tsubomi up for a bit. Yaya could not believe Tsubomi's unintended selfishness sometimes. But then again, that's what made the brat the brat. Yaya could laugh about it.

"Now, don't be mad, okay? If you don't want to do it, we won't. Don't make such a big deal about it, Tsubomi-chan. It's all way less worse than you always think." Yaya continued, grinning as the smaller Spican bowed her head a little in embarrassment. The latter really did felt a bit ashamed. She'd have to break that awful habit of instantly going into defense mode.

Yaya sighed as Tsubomi nervously shifted around a bit, looking at her feet and not knowing what to do. She looked up at Yaya a little helplessly, her eyes searching for some kind of confirmation in her own, and the black-haired girl suppressed a chuckle.

"Anyway, now that you're here, how about one final practice?"  
>=====<p>

=====  
>"Oh, you were the angel with the wings! May I ask you to show them again?" Yaya asked to Tsubomi, lifting one of her hands in mid-air towards Tsubomi and placing her other hand upon her chest, the two spotlights focused on her and the pinkette.<p>

Tsubomi, who was standing on the stage balcony, leaned forward. "Romeo, o Romeo! Wherefore are thou Romeo?" she said with as much passion and love in her voice as she could muster, without actually going overboard. Her bright amber eyes were shining.

"If I could I would show them, but I cannot get down or else the maid will miss me and think I am gone, gentle Romeo"' she continued.

"Then fair lady, I will climb up to you." Yaya-Romeo said after a small pause.

The audience was utterly silent as the play moved on, gasping or laughing on all the right moments in the play. Something like fifty minutes had passed already, and both Yaya and Tsubomi had lost their nerves after their first few minutes on stage. Everything had gone like planned so far. Chikaru was nearly glowing with pride behind the curtains, wordlessly coaching the students who were on stage from the safe sidelines. Even Miyuki had dared to show up and watch.

Yaya and Tsubomi were both fully dressed in hand sewn costumes, made by no other than the Lu Rim Queen. The Spicans were accordingly dressed: Yaya wore a blue and yellow striped tunic and white leggings underneath. Her long hair was up in a bun to simulate the short boyish hair like Romeo. Tsubomi was completely different: she was wearing a simple yet nicely fitting yellow dress, and her hair remained unchanged.

The spot on Yaya moved a bit, the play went on.

"But the orchard walls are hard to climb and very high. You will certainly fall down!" Tsubomi said, putting her hands on her face in a worried manner.

"With love's light wings I can over perch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt." Yaya replied, amazingly relieved that the sentence came out without faults. She'd found it a rather annoying text to learn.

The spot widened as Yaya stood up and proceeded to climb the 'orchard walls', what in fact wasn't more than a thick wooden decor. A green-coloured rope hung from the decor, and in the wall itself were small openings for her feet. So the coal-haired girl grabbed the rope, stuck one of her foot in an opening and began to climb up, under a loud gasp of the audience. Yaya couldn't prevent a small smirk from appearing on her face as she felt like the star of the play.

She pulled herself up with her arms, shoved up the rope and placed her feet in a new opening, coming higher bit by bit. When she was as high as the balcony, she swung herself onto the damned thing with one agile leap, landing neatly next to Tsubomi-Juliet.

As the original script said, they were supposed to lock in an intimate embrace now. But just on the last moment, Tsubomi gently grabbed Yaya's head on either side and guided it to her own until their lips were touching. Yaya was as surprised as the audience: a wave of 'ooooh' floated through the auditorium, followed by whispers and squeals.

Tsubomi pulled away after a brief moment , not knowing what had just gotten over her, and trying her very best not to let her voice quake as she spoke again.  
>=====<p>

=====  
>"No! My- my Juliet. My dear Juliet..." Yaya's voice creaked through the dead-silent theatre as she sunk down on her knees next to what was supposed to be Juliet's deathbed. One single spotlight was focused on them. Tsubomi lay there unmoved, an emptied bottle of poison in her hands.<p>

Yaya-Romeo's hands found their way to the bottle and took it, examining it gravely. Then she threw it away with a raw scream, draping herself over Tsubomi's body, pulling off the best pair of fake cries she could possibly muster. The black-haired Spican sniffed as she got up again, letting her eyes roam across the body of Tsubomi, furiously hoping her expression was sad enough.

"Juliet." she whispered, taking her hands, "How- how do you expect me to live on without thee? It is impossible that thou would want this fate alone, therefore... I will follow."

Slowly, almost agonizingly slow, Yaya drew her sword from her costume. With shaky hands, she brought it up in front of her face, letting her gaze linger upon the fake metal, enjoying the gasps that drifted her way from the audience. Then she suddenly thrusted the sword through her body.

At least, it seemed that way. Yaya had only held it next to her, so that the illusion was there that the sword went all the way through her upper body. Her eyes widened for second before she let herself fall slowly onto the deathbed, next to Tsubomi-Juliet.

The spot went out for a brief moment.

"R-Romeo?" Tsubomi's voice resounded through the darkness, frightened and alone. Then the clatter of metal and a sob. The spot slowly faded in, showing the audience a weeping Juliet, bowing over the fake corpse, hands tightening around the clothing. Tsubomi furiously hoped she'd pull this part off, because she was lousy at acting sad and heartbroken. She had trouble practicing this.

"My sweet Romeo... why? I was merely sleeping, intoxicated by both thee love and poison, yet I would never enter death without my Romeo. Why did thou go without me?"

She let her gaze go over the audience for a while, a far-away look in her eyes. She then focused back on Yaya, proceeding to draw a fake dagger from her dress. Tsubomi held it up in the air, for all the students in the theatre to see. With one sad, heart-wrenching sob she pretended to stab it through her neck-region, yet she pulled of the same trick as Yaya. Tsubomi plopped down as a mess, sprawled all over Yaya-Romeo, who did her best to not burst out in nervous laughter.

The spotlight slowly faded out. The audience remained silent, all caught up in the play until the curtains closed. Realization dawned and one student then started clapping, followed by hundreds of others, ending in a deafening applause.

Behind the curtains, Tsubomi and Yaya quickly scrambled away before the big red drapes would be pulled up again. They landed into the arms of Chikaru, who gave them a brief hug, a smile of immense joy on her face. "Great job!" she whispered. Yaya grinned at Tsubomi, who in her turn couldn't really help but to widely smile back, feeling her heart race in her chest.

The applause went on and on as the curtain rose again, revealing a now empty stage. Chikaru ushered Yaya and Tsubomi to run on for their round of applause first. Yaya grabbed Tsubomi's hand with a smirk and dragged her onto stage, under the loud appreciation of the crowd. Students squealed and yelled. The raven-haired Spican nodded at Tsubomi and they bowed a few times before disappearing backstage again. The other actors and students who helped followed quickly, and Chikaru went on as last but not least, mouthing the words 'thank you' over and over.

"Tsubomi-chan, you were great!" Yaya said a little breathlessly, her brown eyes glimmering with adrenaline. The two Spicans were backstage, grins on their faces they could not take off.

"You too. I'd never thought you could pull of such a good Romeo."

"Pfsh, you're the one to talk, who'd thought you could be so sweet as Juliet?" Yaya countered, a smirk once again gracing her lips, much to Tsubomi's dismay. A blush quickly adorned her cheeks, but the pinkette could not get mad at her. She was feeling so great, an euphoria washing over her.

"Shut up."  
>=====<p>

=====  
>"Ne, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya's voice suddenly purred into said girl's ear, starting the poor pinkette, "come talk a walk with me for a bit?" the raven-haired girl's eyes were friendly as Tsubomi nodded and followed Yaya away from the crowd.<p>

It was night, and the whole play crew had gathered outside the theatre, near the edge of the neighboring forest. Chikaru had permission to start a small fire, under the watchful eye of the Sisters, the ever so strict Miyuki and the Étoile herself of course. But they soon had come around too, enjoying the warmth of the fire, listening to the crackling of the wood and enjoy the smell of the smoke as the flames seemed to lick the star-crossed sky.

Remarkable was that everyone seemed to be standing around the fire in pairs. Shizuma-sama was once again obviously flirting with her redhead, Miyuki was standing shyly next to a blue-haired girl with twin tails and Chikaru was animatedly talking to a very calm looking Shion.

"What's up?" Tsubomi cautiously asked once they were out of hearing reach of most people. Yaya had a rather serious expression plastered on her face: her eyebrows were knitted together above her brown eyes and her jaw was a clenched together.

"Look, Tsubomi, I wanted to talk about last afternoon... I'm sorry for what I said. I had no reason to be mad, because, you were right. It's not always about me. But I was just so focused on getting you to like me and choose me, that I forgot. I forgot that this was all you." Yaya said, struggling to find the right words to explain what she'd been feeling like. She took Tsubomi's hands in her own and gently squeezed them, "And if you would like I'd keep my distance from now on."

Questioning eyes searched for Tsubomi's, and the latter was speechless for a moment. Slowly but surely, she felt her whole body get warm, and not because of the fire.

"You _baka!_'' the pinkette finally replied, feeling a laugh coming up, "Yaya-chan, you moron, don't you see that you shouldn't be apologizing? If anything, I probably made you feel way worse than you should've been. But I can't help myself, pushing people away is like my defense mechanism. I push people away, though I actually want them. I'm sorry."

"...Does that mean you want me, Tsu-bo-mi-chan?"

Tsubomi couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous remark, and before she knew it, Yaya already had her arms enveloped around said girl's waist and her lips captured in a passionate kiss. The pinkette did not resist this time, because she'd actually known all along that she'd want to be with Yaya. So she drew the taller girl closer, locking her arms around Yaya's neck.

Replying all too eagerly, the raven-haired girl dared to open her mouth and treat Tsubomi to a full kiss, but after a brief moment she pulled back, surprising Tsubomi.

"I have one last thing to say, though," Yaya said, keeping the roseate-haired girl at an arm's length, enjoying surprised her amber stare, "I can't promise you anything about me being all brave. I will tease you, like I did before. We will argue. There's no doubt about that. But I what I can promise is that I'll try to be the best girlfriend you'd ever know."  
>=====<p>

=====  
><strong>An: so here it finally is! The end of this fic. I hope I did well, and I can truly say that I am in love with this chapter. I honestly spent a lot of time writing and editing, tweaking it and making sure it all the passages and words flowed, and that the play was okay (I even did some research on the original text from some scenes, like the balcony scene) and that all the characters were IC enough. But I think I did a pretty decent job! Am I rite? =D**

**In any case, I'd like to thank the reviewers and readers for sticking with me, because I know I'm not the most regular updater around. But most of all I'd like to say thank you to my dear friend Mikkel, who's mostly kept me writing when I had no inspiration whatsoever. So here's to you, Mikkel, I know you read this part! Tee-hee. Anyways, I don't want this to sound like some speech, but I do think you guys deserve a thank you. (:**

**I hope I'll be able to start working on another lovely SP! story soon! Read&Review please!  
><strong>=====  
><em><strong><br>**_=====_  
><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic!, and the piece Romeo and Juliet solely belongs to William Shakespeare<br>**_=====


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